Deadly Bloodline Part I
by RienMuse
Summary: There were murders among the Werewolves. Fearing for the life of his family Alcide turned to Sookie, who had her own problems, for help. Eric had returned to life and the relationship wasn't easy as she thought it would be. But that's not all...
1. Introduction

**Author Note: This is the second part of The Trilogy of the Life of Eric and Sookie according to my fantasy. I took the liberty of using names and characters of Southern Vampires Mysteries from Charlaine Harris, which IMO, they rock! So please, Ms. Harris, don't sue me, because this is the way I say "I love you" to your works. Besides, I am poor and have only time and hobby. I promise to treat Eric gently, cross my heart ;).**

**All characters belong to Charlaine Harris. I don't have any rights or whatsoever on them. Except James and Victoria, a new character which I wrote for my friend, Net. And some other characters which might come up later.  
**

******Introduction**

It was complicated.

Sookie thought, it was going to be just easy-peasy to tell James who his father was. His name was Eric Northman. Sookie had registered him as James Stackhouse, of course, but she never lied to him. His father was Eric Northman. James had heard the name since he was little, but he had never met the man, until recently. By 'recently', it meant, today.

But there was a tiny little complication. Eric Northman was a vampire. Not just _a vampire_, but as a vampire, he had been dead for almost fifteen years and now, he rose and shone from his undead death.

You see, it was complicated after all.

It was not about the fact that he was a vampire. Since the Japanese scientists were finally successful in inventing and perfecting 'True Blood'. True Blood was a trademark for a synthetic blood. According to its producers, 'True Blood" had every substance that blood had; iron, protein and electrolytes and it was able to replace the function of Blood, too. This 'True Blood' made vampires able to walk among the human and they did. They revealed themselves to the human and agreed not to drink human blood, unless the human themselves allow it. The consequences of their action varied all over the world. Some countries accepted and tolerated their existence without major problems, some refused them and even hunted them down and some were undecided. United States of America was one of those countries that tolerated and accepted their existence almost without problems. Of course, there were here and there refusals against the vampires. Some of the refusals were based on sociological reasons and the others were based on religious reasons. Some of those who refused and actively against the vampires were members of Fellowship of the Sun. For them, the existence of vampires itself was already a sin, let alone to have contacts with them.

Sookie did not give much thought about it, until she had to face the fact that Eric Northman had not died yet. He had been 'sleeping', to take it lightly. A wizard from Siberia – Boris Davydov, had performed a special ceremony and cast a spell on Eric. For almost fifteen years, he had been under a spell. Everybody had thought that Eric's changing into human was temporarily, a week, a month or maximum a year. Nobody had ever thought that the spell would have worked as long as the wizard himself had still lived. During that time, without knowing it, she herself had been also bonded. For almost fifteen years, she had been living without her telepathic ability. Sookie did not regret to live without it; in fact, it had been better that way. She had not had to 'listen' to unwanted comments or thoughts from others.

Now that Davydov died, the spell was broken. Her telepathic ability returned and like a sleeping beauty, Eric Northman rose from his dead. The different was, it was not a kiss that woke him up, but an early version of True Blood, accidentally spilled all over his face and the smell of her fresh blood.

Yet, what was the most reasonable way to tell a child that his father was an Undead? Moreover, how did somebody explain it in a scientific way that an Undead was able have a child?

Sookie herself was shocked to find herself pregnant a month after Eric's had been put in the coffin and taken away by Godric. She had not slept with any other man, but Eric. It took quite some time to realize that Eric had been a human when they had sex in the woods. She had not been in pills and Eric had not used condoms. As simple as that.

If Eric refused to believe that James was his son, both of them should stand in front of the mirror. Sookie was sure they would find many similarities in each other. James had bright blond hair and striking blue eyes. He was too tall for his age (he was 14 years old and around six feet. Sookie was afraid that by the age of 21 he was going to reach above 6'7" if he did not stop growing). Moreover, the way he carried himself; how he bent his shoulder a little bit and his habit, putting his hands inside his pockets and the way he smirked from time to time…all of those were shouting: _I am Eric!_

It was not getting any easier either when Eric, James and Sookie herself were in the Northman Mansion's kitchen, talking about it. Sookie tried her best to explain the situation to James, with a hope that if James saw and talked to Eric, he would understand, but the result was James paced around the kitchen angrily.

He accused Sookie hiding the facts about who he really was. He also accused her of being ashamed to have a vampire as a lover (this sentence made Eric lift his eyebrow and look at her sharply), or being of losing her job if people knew that she had had a relationship with a vampire. Moreover, he accused her of being hypocrite to hate Godric and other vampires, but behind their back, she had a child with a vampire, not just any other vampire, but Godric's son!

"That's enough," Eric said. "Respect your mother."

James looked at Eric. "Or what?!"

Eric emptied another bottle of his red wine, and put it on the table. His red wine was not any kind of wine. Now that Sookie knew the existence of True Blood, she could not call 'that wine' wine anymore. It was an early version of 'True Blood'. Sookie remembered how Eric had jumped all over her and cleaned up her mouth with his tongue when he had seen her drinking it. Without being able to stop herself, she felt a familiar feeling crawling on her body. That action itself had not given her those certain feelings; it was Eric's kiss afterward. A kiss which could have led to something more, if Eric had not left her.

Suddenly Eric turned around and looked at her with a faint smile on his lips. On his eyes was that tempting look, which Sookie knew very well. He touched his own lips with his thumb, wiping the non-existing trace of wine and gave Sookie one more look before he took another bottle. He had drunken four bottles of his red wine and it looked like he was still thirsty. After fifteen years of being locked up in a coffin, Sookie believed, Eric could empty every bottle of True Blood, which was available in the whole area of Louisiana!

_Damn! _Sookie sighed. She had forgotten that Eric could sense her feelings because of her blood that he had sucked. Maybe after fifteen years, the effect of her old blood had faded away, but certainly not the fresh one, which Eric had just sucked from her some hours ago. Damn, damn, damn!

Eric drank the wine, and then put the bottle on the table. Slowly he rose and walked toward James. His broad shoulder blocked the lamp and James from Sookie's view. She did not know what he was doing, but she did not like it because she was not able to see James' reaction.

_What is he doing? Why is he asking me to obey him? _James thought.

Sookie was shocked to hear James' thought. Eric was trying to glamour him! Without waiting any longer, Sookie put herself between them, and pushed Eric away. "Don't you dare glamouring him!"

"I can defend myself!" James said loudly. He was clearly offended by her act, but Sookie did not care. There was no way that she would allow Eric to glamour him.

Suddenly Eric growled.

Sookie moved backward, she felt James hand grabbing hers. That hand was shaken. James was scared. Anybody would be scared seeing how Eric was now. His fangs were out and his eyes flickered; and the voice that he had just made, Sookie believed it would make anybody's hair curl.

"Now I have to deal not only with one, but two Stackhouses!" Eric said. "Stubborn, reckless and emotional beings."

Sookie folded her arms in front of her chest. What did he say?

Eric snorted. "I can see now that you are your mother's son."

Sookie turned her head to see what Eric meant and she saw James was also folding his arms in front of his chest. The different was, he pouted his mouth, just like Eric when he was angry. Hastily Sookie unfolded her arms, so did James.

"What are we going to do now?" she asked James. "Somehow we have to get along, James." She touched James' hand. "I am not ashamed of having a vampire as a lover." (Eric looked at her with calculating eyes, as if he wanted to make sure that he was hearing her sentence correctly) "Otherwise, you wouldn't have been born. I do not hide the facts about your father. You've known his name since you were a child, haven't you?"

James nodded.

"My relationship with Godric…let's just say, it is complicated. So many things happened between Godric and me that make us…not go easily on each other. And how could you accuse me of being afraid of losing my job, when in fact, I work for a vampire?"

James looked unease.

"We have always been honest to each other, haven't we? Did I ever lie to you?"

James shook his head. "Except about him," he said. He did not point at anybody, but Sookie knew, he meant Eric.

"I didn't know that he's still alive…not dead…ah…" Sookie tried to find the right word to explain Eric's condition. She knew it was useless, but she had to try somehwow. "Your father was a human the day I conceived you. He was willing to be a human in order to be able to say goodbye, but no he didn't do it for me." Sookie added the sentence hastily when she saw James opening his mouth, protesting. "He did it for his _lover_." Sookie emphasized the word 'lover' so that Eric knew how she felt about his decision to choose Aude over her.

"I did it for my wife," Eric jumped in the conversation. He seemed not to be very happy with her choice of word.

The word 'wife' was not exactly the right word for the moment. James, who had been a little bit calm down after hearing her explanation, was again in rage. His eyebrows met in the middle and his eyes were watery. "What? You had a wife when you were with my mother?!"

"It was…complicated." Eric turned the bottle upside down.

"You cheated on your wife with my mother?! You've got my mother pregnant and left her for your wife…"

"Now, wait a minute…" Eric said, but too late. James shook Sookie's hand and moved away from both of them.

"What are you for a man?!" James walked to the door, but suddenly he turned around. "At least you loved my mother, right?"

Eric looked at Sookie and then James, opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Right?!" James' face was getting redder. His mouth was trembled.

Sookie waited nervously for Eric's answer. _Right, Eric_?

"I chose to spend my last night as a vampire with her," finally, Eric opened his mouth.

_Great! That's not what your son wants to hear, you stupid man!_

"Aaargh!" James stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind him.

"Great, Northman. Great!" Sookie ran after James.

Eric looked at her. His eyes were as cold as ever. "I told him the truth."

"Oh, men can be so stupid sometimes!" Sookie said, opening the door and calling James' name.

**************


	2. Opening a Pandora Box

One

**Opening a Pandora Box**

That black haired head moved around in front of the fridge.

Sookie carefully took out her gun from her bag. She did not know any man with black hair, except Lafayette, but the last time she had seen him, he had gone red: wearing red clothes, red shoes and dyed his hair red. Even if she knew that black haired man, she did not appreciate that he was foraging her fridge without her permission. James had promised to come home today, and Sookie had spent the little time that she had with baking a pie for him.

She knew it was possibly an overacting thing to do to carry around a weapon in a small town such as Bon Temps, but since what happened to her fifteen years ago, she did not want to trust the quietness or the size of Bon Temps anymore. She had been shot, hospitalized - twice, tricked and dragged into an old rotten tunnel. Short word, anything could happen. Just because it did not happen yet, it did not mean that it would not happen.

Besides, it had not been an easy time for her and James. He had met Eric two weeks ago, and sadly, it had not gone the way he had imagined (assuming that he had ever imagined about meeting his father). As far as James knew, his father had died. He never had any hope to meet him. From time to time, he had told her his wish to have a man in the house; a father figure, but that was just about it. He never asked her whether she had a boyfriend or not; and Sookie appreciated it very much.

Then, Godric had asked her to return to Bon Temps. Sookie knew, she should have not returned to Bon Temps. Returning to that place was like opening a Pandora box. It was just one disaster after the other. The next thing she knew, Eric had returned to life, and James had been mad at her, at Eric and at every body. He had accused every body had been lying to him. He felt he had been treated unfairly.

She should have been following her instinct and stayed in Baton Rouge, but James had been very excited about the house and the possibility of staying closed to Pam and Lafayette. All his excitements were blown up in the air after he had heard what Eric said, or in this case, what Eric did not say. James wanted to hear that his father loved his mother when he had been with her. He wanted to know that he was a child of love and not of one nightstand, or of circumstances.

Sookie remembered how James had cuddled himself tight all the way back to her old house. Not a single word came out from his mouth. He did not even bother to turn around to see the house for one more time. Somehow, she wished, James would have done that because from her rear mirror, she could see Eric's tall figure standing in front of the door, watching them, until her car had turned and she could not see him anymore.

The next morning James told her, he needed time by himself to think, if he wanted to stay in Bon Temps or returned to Baton Rouge. He wanted to stay with Lafayette, to clear up his mind.

Sookie always thought James had grown up too fast, not only physically, but also mentally. He was only 14 years old, but he was already six feet tall. His body was not yet built; but day by day, he looked more and more like Eric. Moreover, living without a father figure forced him many times to take decisions on his own, including this time. Sookie had not always agreed with his decision, but she tried her best to respect it, especially this time. She could not see the sadness on his blue eyes. If only she could, she would do anything to see those blue eyes filled with spirit and laughter as usual. Even when it meant, she had to go to Eric and asked him to say those words James was dying to hear.

"Don't worry, Hon." Lafayette had hugged her tightly, when he had picked him up. "I'll take care of him. Give me time, a week or so, he will come home to you."

And that time was today. Two days ago, James had called and said that he would come home. Somehow, he missed her.

Now, this stranger had entered her house and wanted to steal something from her fridge?! _Beware, if you steal James' pie!_

That black haired head closed the fridge and turned around. "Jesus, Mom! What are you going to do with that gun?"

Sookie's jaw dropped. "James? What did you do to your hair?"

"Cool, eh?" he said, shovelling his spoon inside the pie that he was holding in his hand. "I've got tired with the blond. You like it?"

Sookie put her gun back in her bag. The black hair made his pale skin paler and his blue eyes brighter and bluer. She did not like that combination, to be honest. It reminded her strongly to Francesco Allevi, to Daniel Wilson. She shuddered. Everything that reminded her to that name always made her shudder. "As long as it's not purple or acid green," Sookie tried to push away the memory of Wilson.

"Laffiwentuduit," James said with the pie in his mouth.

"Sorry?" Sookie said. She hated when James did that, speaking with his mouth full.

James swallowed the pie. "Laffy wanted to do it. He wanted me to have green hair, actually. You know…more techno than Gothic, but Joey said Gothic suited me better."

"I bet they did," Sookie said sarcastically.

James sat down. "It's okay if I eat this pie like this, isn't it? Or you want some?"

Sookie shook her head. "No, you go on eating. I made it for you." She put her bag on the table, and then sat down opposite to him.

James smiled. _Phew! I thought she was going to be angry! _He thought, but he said, "How many hours did you spend for this?"

Angry? Why should she be angry? Of course, he looked different now. He looked neither like her nor like Eric anymore. People would not think that they were relative if they did not pay attention. But she was not going to be angry. If that was the way James wanted to deal with his feelings, by removing any resemblance to Eric, she would support him.

"Oh, shut up!" Sookie said, smiling. She tried not to show any sign that she could hear what James thought.

"It had been more than five hours and three trials, actually," she said which made James grinning. After the last try, she had enough and gone to bed. She did not cook, period. She had tried and she failed. She admitted it. It was not a sin if a woman could not cook!

"Mom, can I have a dog?"

"What?" Sometimes Sookie amazed how James' mind worked. It jumped around like flee! A moment ago, it was about his hair, and then pie, and now a dog.

"I saw a collie in front of the house when I came home. I think I have seen him around Laffy's place. I have a feeling he has been following me around. I think he likes me. He looks like a stray dog to me, so I guess I can keep it, right?"

Sam had been here. Sam Merlotte - the shifter, who liked to shift his shape into a collie. Sookie had not seen Sam since she returned to Bon Temps. She wondered how he was now.

"Don't you think you should concentrate on your school first, before you want to have a pet at home?"

"Do I have to stay here, Mom?" James asked. "Can we just go home, to Baton Rouge, I mean?"

"We don't have to stay here if you don't want to, Honey," Sookie said. "Look, you are still on holidays and I don't find the right building for the office yet, so everything is still possible."

It was a lie. Her office had been running since last week. She liked the office actually. It was located not so far from the town park. The building was an old building, which had high rooms. The atmosphere inside was calming and elegant. It was Grace's choice and Sookie loved it.

James' face was hard. He repeated the same question on his mind, whether he should ask her or not. Sookie waited nervously. She could imagine what James would ask and she was afraid she would not have any answer for it.

Then, "Did you love him, Mom?" finally James asked. "I mean, did he tell you that he had a wife or something?"

"It was his wife, who hired me, James." Sookie said. Aude's face flashed in front of her eyes. "She wanted to divorce your father and set him free, you know, to find another woman. You see, they had been married for more than 50 years. Aude – his wife; had been dying and she wanted to see Eric falling in love again."

"He did not say that he loved you," James said. His eyes were watery again.

"No," Sookie said, giving him the most convincing smile she could master. "I am not sure if I ever said the word either, but yes, Darling. I loved your father. I had never thought that I would have you, but the moment I knew that I have been pregnant with you, I wanted you. And I love you."

"Do you think….he wanted me, I mean, if he ever knew about me?"

"How could he not want you?" _If he dares saying otherwise, I will stake his heart with my own hands. _Sookie thought.

"I don't know. His reaction was weird. As if I was nothing. I mean, isn't he supposed to be happy, to know that he has a child?" James shrugged his shoulder, then continued spooning the pie. "Maybe I should stay around a little bit longer. You know, to see how he would react toward you…and me."

_He is a Stackhouse, _Sookie thought. _He has a heart of a Stackhouse's and thank God not a Northman's. _

Sookie looked at him fondly. He was willing to give Eric a second chance; to get to know him better…No Northman could have a warm heart like him. If he had been a Northman through and through, he would have had a stone cold heart! How Aude had been able to stand Eric and to love him the way she had done was a mystery to her. That manipulative, selfish, arrogant, cold monkey, how could he ignore the fact that he had a son?! Two weeks passed by and nothing happened. Not a phone call, not a message via Pam or Chow. Nothing. Zip. Nada. If she ever had a chance to lay her hand on him again, she would make sure that Eric would never forget it!

Sookie cursed herself for thinking about Eric, even now, when her own son needed her attention more than before.

Bum, bum, bum!

A loud noise shook her door. Somebody was hitting her door strongly. Didn't that person know about doorbell?

_Open it, now. NOW! _

Sookie heard him screaming in his head.

James stopped eating and wanted to open the door, when Sookie asked him to sit down. Sookie ran to the door and opened it.

A man pushed the door and hastily closed it again. "Sookie, tell Alcide…" Then, he fell to the floor.

After a while, Sookie recognized who that man was. It was Simon Black. He was covered with mud and blood. A huge wound was on his shoulder; and he was buck-naked.

****************


	3. A Favour For a Friend

Two

**A Favour For A Friend**

Sookie waited for somebody, anybody to knock on her door and make a sound.

She had called Alcide an hour ago. Alcide had told her that he would come as soon as possible and asked her to cover Simon's body and not to move him from where he lay.

"We can't leave him there, Mom." James said. "He could die!"

"I know," Sookie said. "But we have to wait for Alcide to come."

"We've been waiting for almost an hour. How long do we have to wait?"

Good question, but what should they do?

"Who is he, Mom?"

"His name is Simon Black." Sookie looked at Simon's body. "A werewolf," but not just _a werewolf, _he was one of the werewolves, who had protected and saved her fifteen years ago. Now he was lying on the floor, dying; and there was not a damn thing she could do about it.

"Werewolves? In Bon Temps?"

"Among others,"

"Cool!"

Sookie looked at James. Her son was grinning. Cool? Did this boy know any fear or not? Or was it a youthful curiousity that she saw?

Suddenly the doorbell rang.

Well, about time!

Sookie opened the door. Lafayette?!

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"It's nice to see you too, Hon." He went inside, threw a look at James and then at Simon. "Oh, I hate this," he said, taking out a red cell phone from his red trousers. "Alcide, it's me. What shall I do now? Aha. Okay." He closed his phone and said to James. "Jim, Baby. I need a bowl of warm water and a towel. Go, go!"

James left the room without waiting for another word.

"Alcide can't make it," Lafayette said.

"Why?"

Lafayette turned his head around. It seemed he wanted to make sure that James was not there. "He thinks, your house is surrounded," he whispered.

"What?!" Sookie yelled out.

"Ssst," Lafayette put his finger on his lips. "Not so loud. I don't want James to hear this. He thinks there are people out there watching over your house. He can't come, otherwise they will attack him."

"Then Simon can't stay here any longer." Sookie stepped away from Lafayette. "He has to go!"

"He also said…" Lafayette looked at her. There was a strange light in his eyes; a light that Sookie saw every time he was considering between to say or not to say. "No werewolves will attack you because you are Northman's Ho."

"What?!" Sookie's voice was louder.

"No supes will dare to attack Northman. That's what Alcide told me, but he didn't tell me why."

"That's ridiculous!"

"Which one, that you are his ho or that no supes will dare to attack Northman?"

Sookie wanted to answer that there was no way that she was willing to go near Eric let alone became his woman (again), when she saw James coming out from the bathroom with a bowl of water and a towel.

"Thanks, Sweetie," said Lafayette. He took the bowl from James' hand and started rubbing the mud and the blood off Simon's body. Carefully he cleaned up the part around the wound. "Alcide also said you – both of you, should go with Simon to Fangtasia."

"What is Fangtasia?" asked James.

"No fucking way!" said Sookie.

"It's Pam's bar, Sweetie," said Lafayette, looking at Sookie. "Alcide will meet you there."

"Pam has a bar, and its name is Fangtasia?" James's face was smiling brightly. "She never told me that. Can we go there, Mom? I want to see."

"No, we can not!" Sookie said angrily.

"Why?"

"Because."

James looked at Sookie. His eyes were narrowing.

_Stop looking at me like that, James. You look just like your father if you do that! _Sookie sighed.

James' smile was gone. "Oh, he will be there too," he said.

"Yeah," Lafayette was the one who answered. Sookie herself was closing her mouth tight.

"If we can't go there, where should we go?" James said. "He has to be taken somewhere. If we stay here too long, he could die."

"Sorry, Sookie. Alcide did not say anything else," Lafayette took out a small porch from his bag and poured out whatever the contents were onto Simon's wound. "Consider it as a favour for a friend. Alcide helped you a lot in past, don't you think it's about the time you did the same to him?"

Sookie looked at Lafayette. He was right, but why did it have to be Fangtasia?

"Hey, I don't like the idea that you and James get near to that bitch anymore than you do, but it's Alcide we are talking about." _And what a hot ass he has. _Lafayette continued his sentence in his head. "Just do it and ignore that bitch the way he ignores you and James."

"He must have a reason why he asked you to go there, Mom," James said.

"He'd better…" before Sookie could continue her sentence, a hissing noise cut her. The powder that was on Simon's wound was bubbling and producing a bright green substance.

"Oh-oh, it doesn't look good." Lafayette said. "James, you help me lifting him. We'd better go. If this stubborn mother of yours doesn't want to do it, then we'd better do it. Come, Sweetie!"

*******

Fangtasia was not much different from the last time Sookie had seen it. A long line of people stood in front of the entrance and loud music was coming out from inside.

Chow left his post when he saw her. "Ms. Sookie," he said. "It's been quite awhile and you must be Master James."

"Hi," James lifted his right hand.

"Chow, do you see Alcide?" Sookie asked. She did not want to stay long at Fangtasia and she did not have any plan to have a cosy social conversation with anybody from Fangtasia.

"He's with the Boss," Chow said. "You can enter from the back door. He also said, Lafayette and I should go to the Haven. I'll show you the way."

Sookie followed Chow. They made a big curve around the building to go to the back part of the club.

"Not you, Master James." Suddenly Chow said.

Sookie turned around to find James behind her. "I thought you stayed with Lafayette,"

"Come on, Mom. I want to see how Pam's bar looks like from the inside!"

"James…"

"I promised to stay close to you. Please…"

"Oh, alright!"

"But the Boss said…"

"Chow, to be honest, your Boss can shovel it anywhere he wants to."

Chow looked at her. He did not say anything, but Sookie could see that he held his smile. Chow was a loyal worker and he would do anything that Eric said, but Sookie also knew, that he would do anything for her too.

James patted Chow's shoulder. "That's my mom…"

"Chow, Master James."

James smiled. "Right,"

Chow led them walk through a dark hallway, before they reached a stair. "They are upstairs," he said and then left.

Sookie took a deep breath. Meeting Eric now was not exactly what she wanted, and especially, not at Fangtasia. A push at her shoulder forced her to walk up the stairs. She turned around. James was smiling, but she knew, he was nervous. She could see from his sudden movement of touching his nose. He always did that when he was nervous. Was he nervous because he knew that he would see Eric?

Sookie smiled. "Let's do it and get over it."

James nodded.

Then they continued walking.

The door was opened before Sookie knocked it. Pam was standing with her hands on her hip. She wore one of her favourite outfit, black leather all over with a huge cross hanging around her neck.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "And…" she pointed at James' hair.

James kissed her cheek. "Hi, Pam. So this is your office," he made his way entering the room. "It looks…" he stopped his sentence and Sookie knew why. There were three men in the room: Eric, Alcide and Jackson. Eric was sitting behind his desk, whilst Jackson and Alcide were sitting on the sofa.

Eric lifted his eyebrow when he saw James. His black hair must have caught his attention.

Alcide got up and shook Sookie's hand. Jackson smiled to acknowledge Sookie's presence. "It's good to see you again, Sook."

"Likewise," Sookie answered. "I brought Simon here and I think Chow and Lafayette are taking care of him now. We can go?" She knew it was very impolite to talk like that, but she did not want to stay there a minute longer.

Alcide asked her to sit down. "There is something that we have to talk about," he said. "Did Simon say anything to you?"

Sookie shook her head. "No. He only said 'Tell Alcide', that was when I called you."

"Anything particular about him?"

"Besides that he showed up buck-naked and wounded? No."

"Sookie, I will need your help," he said. "I will need your protection."

Sookie looked at Alcide, in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?"

It didn't seem to be. Both Alcide and Jackson looked at her straight in the eye. Both of them looked worried.

"There have been some murders in our clan," Jackson said. "First we didn't think that it was a murder because they made it as if it was an accident. The whole members of a werewolf family were killed in a car accident outside Bon Temps two month ago. A man, his wife and two of their children; they were hit by a truck, dragged and their car was found in the river. Then, a month ago, the same thing happened. This time, it was a boat accident. It happened not so far from the Haven, also involving a werewolf family: father, mother and their daughter. We told Simon to investigate, to find proof if those accidents were normal accident, or somebody has been killing werewolf families. Obviously, it was."

"Why do you think I can help you? How? I am only a human; I have no power against werewolves!"

Well, not exactly. Sookie's real grand father was a faery, but it was something that she wanted to keep secret.

"You work for the Queen of Louisiana."

"Yes, and almost the whole population of Louisiana too. Besides, I don't work directly under her, it's just that I work in one of her firms."

"You are the owner of the house in the Bon Temps wood and Eric Northman lives there." Alcide said.

That was true, but she did not live there and she had no idea to live there either.

_Please…otherwise…die…_

Sookie could hear part of Alcide's thought. Based on her experience, it was not always easy to read a werewolf's mind. It sounded like it was spoken in a padded room: deep and unclear.

"How, Alcide?"

"By living under the same roof with you."

"What? You know my house. I only have one room. James already has to sleep on the couch and I can't imagine where you or your family have to sleep!"

"If you return to the house in the wood, there will be enough places for my family."

"No." Sookie got up. "It's out of the question."

From the corner of her eyes, Sookie could see Eric put his elbows on the table, forming a triangle by putting his fingers against each other. His voice was icy when he said, "Do you want to live there, James?"

James was perplexed by the sudden question. His jaw dropped.

_Oh, this is typical Eric! Attacking somebody when it is least expected. This manipulative monkey! Fifteen years locked up and died doesn't seem to change him at all!_

Sookie turned around, facing him. "What do you want, Eric?" She felt her blood racing to her head. If he thought that he could win James or her heart by manipulating the situation that she was facing now, then he was making a big mistake. She was no longer this 26 years old girl, the one who had naively trusted the 'kindness' and 'generosity' of a little devil called Aude Northman!

"Helping the Herveaux," he said without changing the tone in his voice. "Alcide is a good and loyal worker. I want to keep him alive so that he can continue working for me."

Sookie felt as if her head was exploding. "Did you even consider James? You are pulling him into a dangerous situation."

"That's why I asked him and not you." Eric moved his eyes slowly, and then fixed them at James. "What say you?"

James looked at Eric, Sookie and then at the Herveaux. He looked very confused. He touched his nose, folded his arms, and touched his nose again. Over and over again. Finally he said, "I'll help."

"Good," Eric said, slowly rising from his chair. His tall figure was exactly in front of Sookie. He was wearing his tight black wife beater and jeans. His long blond hair moved softly on his shoulder. Maybe it was only her imagination, but Sookie caught a faint smell of jasmine. Had he washed his hair with a jasmine shampoo? Had he done it for her?

Sookie pushed away the thought, but it was too late. Eric must have sensed it already; otherwise, he would have not had that smirk on his face.

"I am sorry, Sookie," Alcide said. "I would not have asked you, if the situation was not too dangerous for my family."

"Why do we have to be there?" Sookie asked. "You and your family can live at Northman Mansion, if you want. I don't mind."

Eric did not seem to be happy hearing it, his eyebrow met in the middle. Sookie chose to ignore it.

"Without your presence, the Council will think that Northman is the one who protects our family. We are not allowed to ask for help to an Apotamkin." Jackson said.

"Apotamkin?" James asked.

"Vampires," Pam was the one who answered. "They believe that vampires like to eat the flesh of werewolf children." Then she smiled, mockingly. "I don't even like children."

"But you like me, right Pam?"

"Of course I like you, silly!" Pam touched James' hair. "Why do you think I haven't eaten you yet?" Then she kissed James on the cheek. "Do you want to see the bar, Darling? I can show you around…if your mother says okay, of course." She added hastily.

Sookie nodded.

"Thanks, Mom." James said and followed Pam out of the room.

The Herveaux said thank you again and then they also left the room.

Being alone with Eric somehow made her nervous. Sookie could feel her body temperature rising and Eric did not even stand close to her. Fifteen years was a long time for a woman or a man to wait for her or his lover. Now, her lover was standing not so far from her and she did not know what to do.

"You are older," Eric's voice was low, but Sookie could hear what he said clearly.

"I am a human, Eric. Not like your kind, we do grow older." Sookie moved away to the door, but before she was able to reach the handle, Eric was already in front of her. He bowed a little. His face was close to hers. His nose almost touched her skin. Sookie tried her best not to show how much she was trembling. One more movement from Eric, she swore she would not be able to control herself not to kiss him.

"You smell the same," he said. "Your blood tastes the same too." His hand was reaching out to touch her face. That hand was as cold as Sookie remembered. His lips were getting closer, "I wonder…"

'Click' his fangs were out, but before he could do anything with them, a loud scream was heard from downstairs. The next thing Sookie knew was every body screaming in her head.

"James…" She pushed Eric away and left the room. "James!!!"

**********


	4. Welcome Home, Sookie

**Author's Note: All my chapters are betaed by Vic Vega. Thanks, Luv.**

Three

**Welcome Home, Sookie**

Sookie ran down the stairs and called out James' name. She heard many noises overlapping each other, she could not make any different anymore; which ones were actually being spoken and which one were only in their heads. Sookie followed the noises to find the main room of fangtasia. She was not familiar with the back part of the building, she just hoped she was able to find the place on time and nothing bad had happened to James.

When she saw a big red door, she pushed it wide open. That door was the only door in this deemed hallway. It must be the only way out. It's got to be!

The sound of the main dance floor of Fangtasia came to her ear like a strong wave coming from a sea of chaos. The visitors ran here and there, screaming. The deemed lamps and the disco ball lights did not help them so much of finding the way out. The chairs were hit, or thrown away; glasses or bottles fell on the ground; and then Sookie heard a very loud voice.

"Freeze! Police!!! Stay where you are!"

The bright lights suddenly hit the main floor. Nobody was screaming anymore. The commanding sound of the police officer somehow calmed them down.

Sookie shadowed her eyes with her hands to make her able to see what had been going on. The Fangtasia visitors were now silent. They were standing around and waiting for the police officers to allow them to leave the building.

_These bloodsuckers, they give us nothing else, but problems! I should have stayed at home and had a good fuck and not taking care of their problems! They are dead. Why don't they stay dead?! Fuck!_

A woman's voice rang in Sookie's head loudly.

_I hope it won't be shown on TV! Dad will kill me if he finds out that I was in Fangtasia._

_Fuck! Where can I hide my stash? Fuck, fuck!_

_Why do I have to be here? I didn't see anything. This man suddenly fell. What can I say? I didn't see who killed him…_

Somebody was dead.

Sookie looked around. Who was he? And James, where was James? She walked in. She must find James! She knew she should have not come here! This place was nothing, but problem.

After throwing her sight at every corner of the dance floor, finally Sookie saw James standing beside Pam at the end of the stairs on the first floor. She felt relieved. He was safe.

One by one, the visitors were leaving the room. They would be asked outside, a police officer said. They should also give the police officers their identities so that they could be asked for further information.

Pam looked at Sookie surprisingly as she saw her walking up the stairs. "How did you know there was something happening here?"

"I heard somebody screaming." Sookie said.

"You were back there," Pam said. "Nobody can hear anything from back there, not even vampires; unless you have a special hearing ability…" she looked at her. "Sookie…?"

Sookie did not answer.

"Eric would be glad to hear that."

"No." Sookie grabbed Pam's hand. "He doesn't need to know. It's not his business."

"What are you guys talking about?" asked James.

"He doesn't know?"

"Know what?" James looked at Sookie and then Pam.

"Not now, James," Sookie said as she saw a woman approaching them. The last thing she wanted to deal with now was James's questions. She knew, James would not stop asking until all his questions were answered; and it could take forever. What she wanted to do now was going home, or much better, packing all James' and her clothes and heading straight to Baton Rouge; and never coming back!

That woman introduced herself as Detective Sergeant Victoria Luna, from Shreveport Homicide Division. She asked Pam as the owner of the Pub the standard questions, if Pam had seen anything, where she had been during the incident, if she knew the victim. During all the time of the interview, her eyes were on James, and inside her head, she had different questions: A_re you not too young to be here? Where is your mother? How old are you? What is your relationship to this bloodsucker?_

After asking Pam, she looked at James, "And you?"

"James Stackhouse," James said.

_Ah, from Stackhouse family, the bloodsuckers' slave._

Sookie's eyes were widening. What did this bitch just say?

"How old are you?" Det. Sgt. Victoria Luna asked. "Are teenagers allowed to enter your pub, Ms. Thiboult-Rames?"

"He is fourteen years old. He is my son and he's just visiting, with me." Sookie cut her.

"And you are?"

"Suzanne Stackhouse." Sookie had no intention to tell that woman her pet name. "I am his mother."

_Ah, the famous Stackhouse. The Leclreq's ass kisser._

_If this woman ever opens her mouth to me the same way she speaks in her head, I will smack her face. _Sookie tried hard to keep the expression on her face under control.

"James was with me in my office," Pam said.

"Doing?"

"Grand Thef Auto," James answered. "On-line."

The detective looked sceptical, but she wrote it anyway.

Sookie did not know what Grand Thef Auto was, but it seemed it was a satisfying answer.

_Teenager, _the detective thought. _Good that he stays being teenager and not all over this bitch._

"Mrs. Stackhouse, where were you during the incident?"

"I am in the back room with Eric Northman," Sookie said.

"Who is he?"

"Mr. Northman is my business partner," Pam said. "I can take you to him, if you want."

"That would be very helpful," the detective said.

Pam asked James and Sookie to stay here and led the detective to the back room.

"What happened, James?" Sookie asked. "Why are there suddenly police officers?"

"Somebody was murdered, Mom." James whispered. "Pam said, he was a werewolf."

"What? Did Alcide know about this? Is he still here?"

"No, the Herveaux had left the building when it happened."

"How did she know it was a werewolf?"

James' face looked paler than usual. "She said, she could tell from the smell of his blood," he said. "Mom, it's really creepy to see Pam suddenly let out her fangs, pushed me to the corner and looked as if she wanted to attack me."

"No, Honey. She wanted to protect you." Sookie smiled, trying to encourage him. "She is a loyal friend to your father. She will not let anything happen to you."

"I know," James said, but he did not look convinced. _Still, she freaks me out! _

"What else did you know?" Sookie asked.

"Some people say that the man's throat was cut wide open with a silver blade."

The memory of Ginger Alley and Adam Smith flashed in her brain. They were murdered by Tara Thronton, using an ancient silver knife. Was it the same this time?

"Let's go home, James." Sookie said. "It starts to freak me out, too."

James looked at her. _How did she know what I thought?_ "We are not allowed to leave the place, Mom."

"Let's ask the officers."

They came to the first police officer they saw and asked if they were allowed to leave the place. After giving their address, Sookie wanted to take James home as soon as possible, but he said.

"I want to say goodbye to Pam first."

Sookie followed James returning to the back room. She really did not want to see Eric again. If they had to stay at Northman Mansion, then at least for tonight, she did not have to see or talk to him again!

Sookie opened the door of the back room. "Pam…" she said and her sentence was abruptly cut by what she was witnessing.

Eric was having a woman sitting on his laps. For a moment, she thought he was kissing her neck, but when he lifted his face, Sookie could see his fangs were out and blood was all over his mouth. He was drinking, eating…or whatever the vampires called when they were blood sucking.

His blue eyes were flickering. He looked angry.

Sookie closed the door. She felt her chest heavy and hot. Eric was drinking blood from another woman. Knowing him, he was possibly fucking her too!

"Is Pam there, Mom? Are you all right?"

Sookie looked at James. Her eyes were hot, she prayed that she did not shed any tear. Eric did not deserve her tears, not anymore!

"Let's go, James. You can call Pam later."

"What's wrong, Mom? What did you see?"

"Please, James. Don't ask any question! Not now!"

Almost dragging him, Sookie took James out of Fangtasia and jumped in the taxi, ignoring James' protest.

It was late at night. The house was quiet. There was no sound, but the sound of the clock, ticking. James had fallen asleep not long after they returned from Fangtasia. He asked when they were going to go to Northman Mansion, so that he did not have to unpack his bag. Sookie said, they had to ask Alcide, when he wanted to move into Northman Mansion. Until then, she preferred to stay put.

Sookie could not close her eyes, not even a wink. She did not know how many times she moved around on her bed, tried one position after the other, but it still did not work. Her eyes, especially her brain, did not want to switch off.

The scene she had witnessed at Eric's office was too much for her. She knew that Eric must have drunken blood at the time she had been staying at Northman Mansion. She was even sure that he had drunken from Aude until the day he had locked himself in the vault, but seeing was different from believing. To witness how the lips, which used to caress her body, sucked another woman's neck was unbearable. It was like witnessing him and another woman on the bed.

Sookie closed her eyes. She had to be able to forget Eric. He was not the one she had used to know. Eric would not….what did she know about Eric, anyway? The only moment she had been with him was when he had been in a turbulence situation, choosing between taking the potion that would lead him to an almost unbearable condition and probably kill him in the process, or not taking the potion and not able to say goodbye to Aude.

He had been vulnerable, a shadow of his real self.

Now, he was himself again, a selfish, arrogant bastard!

Sookie pulled the blanket over her head. She had to stop thinking about Eric. She had to be able to sleep because if Alcide called her tomorrow, she would have many things to do. First, she had to call the office in Baton Rouge and tell them that she decided to stay in Bon Temps. Second, she had to pack and then went to Northman Mansion; something that she preferred not to do. Then, she had to live there at Northman Mansion and possibly had to face Eric every evening. That very thought made her angry already. She could not pretend that she had not seen what Eric was doing in his office. She was not Aude who had agreed or even provided the women for Eric.

She wanted to be the only woman in his life, or not at all!

Knock, knock!

Sookie emerged from beneath the blanket. Somebody had knocked the door? In this hour? Sookie sat up and waited. Was it James?

Knock, knock!

No, it was not on the door. It was on the window.

She turned around and saw a figure at the window. No, she would not open the window, not in this hour. And if it was Eric…he could stay there until the break of dawn!

With one push, the window was opened. That figure at the window flew inside and landed on her bed. Without saying anything, he took the blanket off her and threw it on the ground.

There were only five vampires, whom she had invited: Eric, Godric, Bill, Pam and Chow. From from the shape of his body, she could tell that it was Eric. His body was wet from the dew that had fallen upon it. His blond hair spread the smell of jasmine flower. Sookie could not see how his face looked like, but his voice sounded hoarse when he said,

"Come to me."

Sookie searched for the switch of her lamp on the night desk, but Eric caught it. His cold hand was like fire on her skin, slowly sparking and crawling from her hand upward.

"Eric…"

"Say that you'll come to me."

Sookie could feel his cold lips on her neck. With her other hand, she touched his hair. That touch was like a sign for Eric that she had accepted him again because Sookie could feel how closed and how hard Eric pressed his body against hers. His lips were no longer on her neck. They were replaced by his nose which softly and slowly moving upwards, as if it was following the line of the arteries, then before it reached the ear, it turned around. Sookie could feel how his cold lips moved slowly on her cheek, searching for her lips.

"Come to me…" he whispered. His body that was close against hers was getting harder. "Say that you'll come to me."

"Eric…I…"

Brak!!! A loud noise was coming from the living room and then continued by a loud yell. "Ouch!!!"

James must have fallen off the coach again. That boy needed a bed and soon.

"Eric…" she wanted to say that she had to go checking James, when she realized that nobody else was there.

Hastily she turned on the light. Yes, nobody was there, or had been there. The window was closed, only her blanket was on the floor.

Sookie sighed. She had been dreaming.

"Mom, I can't sleep," James' voice was at her door.

Sookie got down off her bed and opened the door. "You sleep here," she said. "I sleep on the couch."

James dragged his feet into the room. "I need a bed," he mumbled, and then let himself fall onto the bed. "Good night, Mom." Soon afterwards, his snore filled the bedroom.

Alcide called early in the morning that his family would go to Northman Mansion late in the afternoon. He wanted to double check the security measurement before he let his family enter the ground. He had learned from the past, he said. This time, he would only use the inner circle of the Long Tooth Clan to protect the house and the ground.

It was half past two when Sookie drove her car away from her house. From the rear mirror, she could see how the house becoming smaller and smaller, then finally she could not see anymore. She had a strange feeling that it would be the last time that she saw the old house of The Stackhouse's.

James did not say a word since he had entered the car. His iPod hung around his neck. Sookie knew he was listening to some Swedish songs he loved so much. Pam gave him the CD on his twelfth birthday. From time to time, she heard him singing along. He shook his head according to the rhythm, and speaking words she did not understand. She had seen this kind of scene before. Eric had the same habit, driving and singing along.

Sookie touched his hair. James was his father's son, through and through.

James removed the iPod. "Why are you grinning, Mom?"

"You are jumping around like a little rabbit,"

"Yeah, right. Six feet tall rabbit," he rolled his eyes. Clearly he did not like being called 'a rabbit'.

"Hey, there is a movie about a 6"3' rabbit, called 'Harvey' with James Stewart and it is not an ordinary rabbit, it's a pooka. It is a beautiful movie; you should watch it one day."

"What is a pooka?"

"Some kind of faery."

James put back his iPod on. "Yeah, right. A faery named Harvey and it had a shape of a rabbit. What is next? A faery named Tinker Bell?"

Sookie smiled. What about James Frederick Northman? He had faery blood in his veins. Maybe one day she would tell him that and he could accept "Harvey" much easier.

Sookie got goose bumps as they were going through the woods. She knew the woods too well to be able to say that she did not like the sight of it. As beautiful as it could be, the Bon Temps woods was also one of the most dangerous place she had known. It was like a magnet that drew any bad things to it and in return, the woods would do bad things with her, whether she liked it or not.

"Mom, is it allowed to go camping in the woods?"

What?

James had removed his iPod and he was looking at her with big eyes as if he had just seen a wonder. "I just saw some people in the woods. They carried something like buckets."

He had just seen the faeries.

"Possibly," Sookie said. "We can ask the sheriff later. Why?"

Andy Bellefleur was the Sheriff of Bon Temps now. Sheriff Dearborn had retired some years ago and Andy was elected as his replacement. She knew what Andy would say about James' idea to go to the woods, but she could not say it right now to him. She did not want to take a way the happy thought he was having.

"Maybe we can go camping one day," James said, but his head said, _she's so beautiful._

Sookie almost stepped on the wrong pedal. One of the faeries had caught his attention. Sookie wondered who she was.

The big gate was opened by two men.

Alcide was waiting for them in front of the house. He opened the car door for her as Sookie stopped the car. "Welcome home, Sookie." He said.

Sookie looked at the Northman Mansion. She was not sure if she felt like coming home. It's more like that she was entering the house of troubles.

James carried his own bag, almost running he entered the house.

"He looks excited," Alcide said.

"He does, doesn't he?"

"Lucky man," Alcide smiled. "His father, I mean."

Sookie was not so sure about that.

Alcide carried her bag. "Will he join you later?"

Alcide must have known that she was not married. He was only being too polite to ask. Except Lafayette and Joseph Newlin, there was nobody else who knew who James' father was. Not even Jason or Arlene.

"No." Sookie said. "His father died, long time ago."

And that's the truth.

Alcide's smile was brighter. "Still, he was a lucky man."

Then he walked in front of her.

***********


	5. First Night at Northman Mansion

**Author's Note: **

**To Gaialy** : **Some parts of this chapter is to answer your question. Thanks to remind me of Pam and Godric, because I think I haven't written it yet. **

Four

**First Night at Northman Mansion**

Aude's room still looked like before. Nothing had changed. The night desk, the tables and the chair were still there. It was as if time had stopped dead. Everything was kept clean and tidy, except the bed. The bed was messy and on it was a black ladies night gown.

Sookie turned her face away. Eric must have been on that bed and not alone. Was that what he meant with "I will not have a woman on Aude's bed'? As soon as Aude had died, he was not able to wait for it another second longer to take a woman on her bed?!

Why had she been easily fooled by him? Why had she trusted him so easily?

Sookie closed the door.

There would be no way that she was willing to sleep on it, even if Eric got down on his knees and begged her to!

"Mom, Alcide said that I can choose between the room on the third floor or the pavilion in the garden!" James said when she got down in the kitchen. "I'll take the room on the third floor." Then he continued in his head, _so I can see the woods._

Room on the third floor? Sookie did not know that there was a room on the third floor.

"Pam built it four or five years ago," Alcide said. "As if she knew that you would return."

Possibly, Pam had known or she had a hope that Sookie returned to Bon Temps with James. Sookie had never told Pam or Godric about James. She had not wanted to have anything to do with them, but somehow, their blood bonds to Eric must have been strong enough to tell who James really was. Pam had been there around them, looking for a way to be in their lives since the first day James was born. Godric had come into their lives a little bit later, but Dušana-Aurora had always sent her his messages, or presents for James. Sookie had not objected either when they had started teaching James their Old Norse. She had been a bit bothered if they had spoken in that language in front of her, yes, but it was because she did not understand them, not because she did not want James to master the language. James should learn about his heritage. One of his heritages was the language of his father, who else should teach him, if not Pam and Godric?

Sometimes Sookie wondered if they were able to tell that Eric was James' father, because of the blood bonds or because James' appearance was a splitting image of his fathers'. Or maybe they did not know, but they were guessing and using their undead brains, calculating the time, when she and Eric had been together and when James had been born. She would ask them one day.

Jason and Arlene had never asked who James' father was, which to be honest, had surprised her. Surely, Jason would want to know who the father of his nephew was? And Arlene was a nosy parker who was usually into everyone's business, but they had neither asked nor given her the impression that they thought it was Eric. When she told Lafayette and Joseph that she was pregnant with Eric's child, they had grabbed a bottle of vodka and drunken it straight from the bottle. Their hands were shaking. They never told her what they thought, and probably never would.

Sookie looked at James. Whether Pam and Godric knew or not, they loved James. She knew that, James knew that as well; and it was what mattered. "Go, then. Take your bag there."

James grinned widely. "Live beside the pools, cool!" He took his bag and ran upstairs.

"He's a great kid," Alcide said, following James with his eyes.

"What about you, Alcide? Do you have kids?"

"No," he said. "No kids. No wife either."

"I thought you were engaged with…what was her name?"

"Debbie. Yeah, we were together for awhile, and then broke up."

Strange, he had no sadness or regret in his voice. "I am sorry to hear that," Sookie said.

He smiled. His green eyes looked straight into hers. _Are you? _He thought. "It was the best choice, I believe. We had some….differences."

"So, who will stay here?" Sookie tried to change the subject because the way he looked at her suddenly made her feel uncomfortable. He did not have anything inside his head, but the light in his eyes clearly showed her what he wanted, or what she thought what he wanted; and to be honest, it was not a comfortable thought.

"It will be my sister and her children; a girl and a boy."

"What about her husband?"

"Her husband is safe, for the moment."

Sookie did not understand at first, but then she realized, Alcide was talking about Simon. "How is he…Simon?"

"He's safe," he said. Alcide seemed reluctant talking about it, and Sookie knew when to stop asking. "They will come here in any minutes. They will stay in one of the room my men use, so they will not bother you or James."

"That's okay, Alcide. I also have a child; I know how loud they can be sometimes. They will not bother me at all."

Alcide smiled. "Janine can cook, so we don't need to have Lafayette here."

Sookie laughed. Her reputation as a lousy chef must be infamous around Bon Temps.

"Nothing against your cook, Sookie," Alcide said. "It's just, it will be better if Janine has something to do, to keep herself busy, you know, instead of worrying about Simon or the kids."

"I know."

"And I don't want to have Lafayette here. Lafayette, I trust, but not his lover. I trusted Carter once, and you know what happened. If Newlin is allowed to come here, or even to stay here, he will be the weakest point, the most vulnerable point of my defence system. I don't want it to happen again. I hope you'll understand."

"I do."

"Thank you."

Janine and her children came shortly before the sundown. With them was Sam. Sookie was almost running to see him. He looked as ragged as before, with a bit more white hair on his head and he still wore the same checker shirt, jeans and cowboy boots. Nothing had changed.

"Sookie!" he hugged her tight.

"Goodness, Sam!" Sookie touched his face. "How are you, Buddy?"

He smiled. His brown eyes were twinkling. "It's been a long time that somebody called me Buddy. Surely it is nice to hear your voice again, Sookie." He kissed her cheek. _And how I miss you!_

"You should have visited us in Baton Rouge," Sookie said.

"I know," he said. "How is your son?"

"He wants to keep you," Sookie whispered. "As his pet."

_If his mother asks me, I will do it gladly. _Sam thought, but he said, "I wanted to make sure that he was all right. He looked as if he was bothered with something, and most of the time wandering alone. Lafayette asked me to keep an eye on him, so I thought, it would be better if I did it unnoticed."

"Thank you, Sam. I know I can rely on you."

Sam nodded. "Don't mention it, Sook."

The darkness came as soon as the sun disappeared behind the woods.

Sookie always liked the evening at Northman Mansion. Francesco had done a great job of creating a romantic atmosphere in the surrounding with the garden, the old lamps and other little details around the house. She wondered if he had done it by himself or he had consulted it to Eric or somebody else.

Eric came up from the basement, wearing only black satin boxers. He must have slept very late last night (if not short before the sunrise) because Sookie saw the deep red rings around his eyes and his pale skin looked dull. They exchanged eye contact with each other, but neither spoke a word. He took a bottle of True Blood and went upstairs.

Eric was going to swim.

_Oh, no! _Sookie thought. James was upstairs and she did not have a chance to tell Eric that James had chosen to sleep in the room on the third floor.

Sookie went upstairs to catch Eric. She did not know how he would react if he knew what James had done, but something was sure. She would not allow Eric treat James the way he had treated her.

The third floor was silent. There was nobody there. Where were they? Was Eric still on the second floor, in Aude's room maybe?

Sookie wanted to turn around when she saw the black boxer, a towel and the True Blood bottle on the floor beside the swimming pool bank. Eric was somewhere here, perhaps in the water. Like what he had said to her once, smirking, that he always swam in the nude.

Sookie felt her face go hot. Eric would emerge from the water sooner or later and she did not want to see him naked, to be honest, at least not with this reaction. She should have been angry and not aroused!

She walked away, but suddenly she heard a voice.

"Looking for me, Stackhouse?"

She stopped. "No,"

A sound of chuckling. "Liar."

"I just want to tell you that James chose the room beside the pool." She started walking away.

"And you can't wait to tell me that?"

"As a matter of fact…" she wanted to show Eric that his naked body meant nothing to her. She turned around and gasped. Eric was right behind her, and thank God, he had wrapped a towel around his lower body. Otherwise…in this density, with his naked body close to hers, Sookie was not sure what would happen.

"You are saying, Sookie?" he bowed. He moved his head like a snake and a smirk was on his face. The water from his hair dropped and fell on her blouse. The coldness of the water touched her skin, mixed with the smell of his hair confused her feelings more and more. It was as if Eric's hands themselves were touching her breasts, bringing back the memory when it had been actually his hands, which had been on them; how he had touched them gently and sometimes pressed them hard as his lust had been getting stronger.

Not able to decide if she should be angry or welcoming the new feeling, she lashed out. "You are a cheating bastard!"

The smirk was gone. "I did not cheat on Aude. She was the one who arranged us to meet and she encouraged us to do it and you knew it!"

"I am not talking about Aude!" Sookie tried hard to hold back her tears.

That head moved again like a snake, and then he straightened his body. "If you're talking about last night, I was…eating." He moved away. "I need something warm, from time to time."

"Is that so?" her anger was rising. "You can't put your True Blood in the microwave?!"

"What for, if I can get something fresh?"

_Something fresh,_ that was what human was for him. _Something fresh?! And something to fuck, perhaps?! _

But Sookie did not ask him that, she did not want to give Eric the feeling that she even remotely cared for what he had done last night. She turned around and walked away.

Before she was able to walk farther, Eric grabbed her and with a blink of an eye, she was already pushed onto the wall. Then he kissed her. First, it was rough. She could feel how his fangs touched her lips; and she thought, at any moment, those fangs would bite them. Then his kisses changed. They were soft, tender and intoxicating. They were also demanding. They demanded that her senses obeyed Eric's will, and without even trying to fight, they did. She could feel how her body was slowly rising, how her legs were opening and starting to climb onto his legs, so that her own weight would be supported and it would be easier for both of them to kiss each other. When Eric let her hands go, she did not want to do anything else, but to put them around his neck.

Then from the corner of her eyes, she saw a figure, standing beside the pool, watching them. James.

All her senses returned to her. She pushed him away and…plack! She slapped him.

Eric's fangs bored into his own lips. Blood ran down from the corner of his lips. He touched it with his index finger, and then rubbed it onto his thumb. He looked at her with such a smug face that Sookie was urging to slap him again, but she stopped it. Instead, she turned around and walked away. This time, she did not look back.

The table in the kitchen after the dinner was tense. Alcide had sent out Janine and her children and James had excused himself right after the dinner. He had looked very uncomfortable during the dinner. His eyes had been from time to time at Sookie and then at Eric. Seeing his parents kissing and possibly would have had sex if he had not been there seemed not a comforting scene for him. Or was it seeing his mother slapping his father's face that had bothered him more?

"My people said," Alcide broke the ice in the air. "The one who was murdered at your bar last night was not a member of Long Tooth Clan. It seems, whoever did it, they are not only targeting our clan."

"What about shifters?" Eric asked. "Are there any victims among you?"

"It is not easy to say," said Sam. "We are not gathered in a clan like the weres. I don't even know if there is other shifters in Bon Temps. We are not as open minded as you are, or the weres."

"How do you know that somebody is a shifter, Sam?"

"You don't, until you touch them. We have a slight higher temperature than human or weres."

"I can smell them from a mile," Eric said. His eyes were focused sharply on Sookie, as if he wanted to tell her that he had known Sookie and Sam had touched each other's body, today.

Sookie chose to ignore Eric's sentence, but she heard Sam thinking, _he is jealous. _Heh, was he?

"What about the murder weapon?" Sookie asked. "James told me that it was a silver blade knife."

"Who told James that?" Alcide looked Sookie, surprised.

"Pam did." Sookie said, wondering why Alcide had reacted like that.

"It would be foolish, if Pam involved him in this matter," Alcide said.

Sookie became more and more puzzled. If Pam had not told James, from where had James known that? And why had he lied to her?

"What silver blade?" Eric asked.

"I don't know. James did not say anything else. I just hope it was not the same knife."

"We saw Godric giving that knife back to the Fae." Alcide said. "It is impossible that he gave the knife to somebody else."

"What silver blade?" Eric asked again, this time his voice was deeper.

"The one which belonged to Francesco's woman," Sookie said. "You were attacked once with it, remember?"

'Click'. His fangs were out. His eyes flickered dangerously. Sookie could see Alcide's hands were suddenly spreading like claws and Sam moved his body away from the table.

Instinctively, Sookie touched Eric's hand. The memory of the night, on which Dušana-Aurora had attacked him with the knife must have been very clear to him because that night, which for the rest of the world had happened fifteen years ago, for Eric, it must have been like yesterday. He must have felt the pain right now and perhaps the pain he had felt in the woods also, when Niall had been removing the poison from his blood.

Eric took her hand, and demonstratively (at least that was what Sookie thought) he kissed that hand. His fangs touched her hand, and before Sookie could say stop, he bit her softly, but the result was blood ran down on her hand to her wrist. Sookie heard Alcide growling. Her blood must have triggered his wolf instinct. Sookie wanted to pull her hand away from Eric. It was too late, he had already licked it and she could feel how he sucked her hand, for a short time, but strong. Then he let it go. He licked his lips and said, "We have to find that blade before it finds another victim."

Sookie heard the commanding voice she had never heard before, it was as if Eric was commanding the members of his platoon or his tribes. She looked at him. Eric may wear his black shirt and jeans for the moment, but under that cloth was a Viking skin with Viking blood ran beneath it. He could not shake off those instincts easily, even when the last time he had a tribe was possibly one thousand years ago.

Suddenly a loud howling was heard.

Sam and Alcide were on their feet, so was Sookie. Eric was the only one who remained seated, but he looked alerted. Both his hands were formed into fists.

Somebody came running from the yard. He was welcomed by Alcide, who walked hastily toward him. They talked rapidly in Cajun and soon afterwards, that man left Alcide.

"There are some werewolves at the gate," Sam said.

"How many?" Eric asked.

Sam was hesitating. He looked at Sookie and at upstairs before he said, "Around 30."

"James…" Sookie walked to upstairs, almost running. "Eric, what about James?"

Eric got up. He took his cell phone out his jeans pocket, dialled a number, and said, "Pam, come here. Take Long Shadow and Chow with you. Ask Bill to come, too." Then a smile was on his face. "We have unwanted visitors."

************


	6. Unwanted Visitors

Five

**Unwanted Visitors  
**

Eric took Sookie by the waist, and with one leap, they were already on the third floor, leaving Sam in the kitchen.

"What's going on, Mom?" James asked as he opened the door.

"We have visitors," Eric said. Still with his commanding voice he continued, "Your mother is your responsibility."

Sookie thought James was going to revolt hearing how Eric had ordered him, instead he said, "Yes, Papa."

For a split second, Sookie swore, she saw a light in those cold blue eyes, but James' reaction took her attention away from Eric. _Yes, Papa?_

Eric nodded, and then without another word he left.

"Yes, Papa?" Sookie looked at James.

James shrugged his shoulder. "Who are the visitors, Mom?"

"Some werewolves,' Sookie said. Thirty, to be exact, or even more; but she did not want to make him or herself worried by thinking about it.

James closed the door, took his bag and opened it.

Sookie looked around. His room was not big, it fitted a bed, a cabinet, a table and a chair, but it seemed enough for him.

Click-click.

That sound was familiar for Sookie. She turned around and saw James holding a pump shotgun. "From where did you get that?"

"Uncle Jason gave it to me," James said.

"You know what happens if your father finds out you carry a weapon in his house?"

"He wants me to protect you; he'd better let me do it. Besides, it's my house too, isn't it?" he asked Sookie to stand behind him. "Don't worry, Mom. I know how to use it," his voice sounded firm, but Sookie could see his hands were shaking. "Uncle Jason and I practised a lot. I think I can handle it, Mom."

Sookie looked at him with a mixed feeling. She did not want to see him holding a gun like that; James was simply too young for that. She was the one, who had to protect him, and not the other way around. Yet, she knew, it was very important for James' self-confidence that she took him seriously. If Eric was able to do it, she had to be able to do the same, too.

Then they waited.

Sookie had been in the same situation like this before, sitting and waiting, meanwhile on the ground the fight had taken place. The different was that she had been the one, who protected somebody else. Now, she was the one who was being protected. How the time had changed!

Sookie did not know how long they had been waiting, when suddenly they heard somebody knocking on the door.

"Who is it?" asked James. He did not lower his gun.

"Darling, it's Pam."

James opened the door.

Pam looked at James' gun. "You've brought a gun into this house," It was more like a statement than a question. "Eric would not like it."

"I am old enough to decide how to protect myself," James answered. "And I am free to do what I want to do in my own house."

"Of course you are, Darling." Pam said, smiling. She seemed to be amused to hear somebody defying Eric. Then she looked at Sookie. "Sookie, you'd better come with me. We will need your…ability."

"Why?"

"We want to know if the werewolves are telling the truth."

"I thought you agreed not to tell Eric about it."

"I haven't told Eric yet. I just thought that you could be handy." Then she winked. "There are things that I can do without asking his permission, you know."

"I am sorry," Sookie said. She should have known that she could trust Pam.

"I know how you feel about that Old Wreckage," Pam said. "Give him time, he is not exactly a person who likes to tell every body about how he feels or thinks. He just does."

_Well, that is a very fine and sugarcoated word of 'a cold selfish arrogant manipulative bastard'._

Sookie went out of the room. James followed her, but Pam stopped him. "You stay here, James."

"Eric said I have to protect Mom," James insisted.

Pam touched his face. "I know, Darling; and you did a good job, but it would be better if you stay here. They don't have to know that there is a young blood inside this house."

James was hesitated, but finally he agreed. "Take care of Mom, Pam."

"Don't worry, James. You will be surprised how well she takes care of herself. Close the door."

James did what Pam told him.

"Who are they, Pam?" Sookie asked as they stepped down.

"The Black Claw Clan and others," Pam said.

"Weren't they the ones who attacked us?"

Pam smiled. "Yes, they were."

"Now they come to us? What do they want?"

"We're about to find out."

Getting nearer to the kitchen, Sookie could hear the sounds getting louder and louder. As if, they were shouting at each other. Each voice blamed the other about the things that had been going on. Each of them accused the other to be too late of sharing the information.

Pam's fangs were out. "Those filthy beasts," she said. "They should have been locked up somewhere in a secluded island and let them fight each other till death."

As Sookie reached the kitchen, she saw around ten men sitting at the table. Eric sat at the end of the table, beside him was Bill, who turned around and smiled as soon as he heard her steps, Sam, Alcide, and six or seven men. Two of them wore leather jackets and trousers, and black t-shirts. The rest wore jeans 'uniforms' with some kind of leather vest. None of them looked friendly and each of them was looking at her right now and speaking words in their heads Sookie preferred to ignore. One thought had caught her attention, however, and she did not know which one who had said that.

_Great, another half-bred. She'll be next._

His voice did not sound excited. It sounded as if he was regretting something, and yet Sookie wondered what he meant by that. He must have been able to smell the blood from the wound. Sookie looked at her hand. It was close already. How could he tell that she was not exactly human?

"This is Ms. Sookie Stackhouse," Alcide said, smiling.

"Is she a member of your clan, Herveaux?" one of the leather jacket men asked. "She is not a werewolf and if she is not a member of your clan, what is she to you?"

"She is a human and she's the lady of the house," said Alcide. His green eyes flashed dangerously. Clearly, he did not like the way that man was asking.

That man stood up. "I don't ask help to a human." His leather friend also stood up.

"Neither do we," said the others.

Honestly, Sookie was glad that they had refused her. The sooner they left the place, the better it would be.

"She's mine," Eric's voice filled the kitchen, deep and hoarse. Sookie did not know he looked like right now, but normally, Eric would look like as if he could kill somebody only by looking at him. His eyes would be narrower, with or without his fangs out, his mouth would draw a straight line.

The kitchen became quiet. Nobody made a sound, nobody even moved. Coldness seemed to creep from the walls and slowly filled the air.

"You came here for my help; you better start learning how to respect those who are mine."

_She is more important than what I thought she was. _Somebody thought. _What is her role in any of this?_

"I don't come for your help either, Northman," one of the men said.

"Oh, you stupid prick!" Pam said. "Either you ask for help or leave the place. I have enough of your big filthy mouths yapping the whole night. I have business to run. State your matter or stop wasting my time."

That man growled and from his mouth came out two big canine teeth.

Pam opened her mouth showing her fangs. Sookie held her breath. She hoped there would be no fight whilst she was there.

Suddenly that man grinned. "I like your women, Northman. Pity, most of them are dead already or will be."

One by one, the men laughed and the atmosphere was warmer. Although Sookie did not like the way he had joked, she was relieved that the tense was down.

Bill stood up and gave her the chair. "It's nice to see you again, Sookie." He said.

Sookie nodded. "Thank you, Bill." Then she sat down.

"This is what happening, Sookie," Alcide said. "As you knew, there were murders among us – werewolves. Sadly, it did not happen only in Louisiana, but also other places. I suppose you are familiar with the Black Claw Clan?" Alcide pointed at the leather jacket men. "The White Fangs," he pointed two men of the 'jeans' uniformed men, "They are from Hot Springs, and these gentlemen here are from Beaumont."

"You know that I can not offer any protection to any of you," Sookie said. "I agreed to accept your family here, Alcide, it is because you are my friend."

"My family and I are very grateful for that." Alcide said. "I can not wait for the day to repay our debts." He flashed his brilliant smile. _Anytime…anything,.. you want, Sookie. _His head said clearly, what he wanted. Sookie tried the best she could to stay calm. She just wondered how long she could handle it because from the corner of her eyes, she could see how Eric's jaw moved and how his eyes got smaller. Clearly, he did not like the way Alcide was saying…well, who cared? If he could not say nice words to her, he surely had no rights to complain if she received compliments from other man.

Sookie told her self to focus, but it's a hard thing to do, when there were two pairs of eyes looking at her the way Alcide and Eric were looking at her. Alcide looked as if he could drag her to the next room at any minute, whilst Eric looked as if he could suck her dry right on spot. Sookie did not know which one she would like to have. "The last time I had something to do with the Black Claw Clan, it almost cost my life. How will I know, it won't happen again?"

The men of the Black Claw Clan grunted. Then one of them said, "We apologize for that. The Clan did not approve what some of us did back then. Some of the members had done it and they were punished severely already. I can assure you that it will never happen again. Besides, if we wanted you dead, you would have been already dead."

A 'click' and hiss answered that sentence. At first, Sookie thought it was Eric, but when she turned around, she realized it was Bill who had done it. Eric did not even move a single line on his face.

The man bared his canine teeth at Bill, and then he said, "Forgive me. I was only telling the truth."

Sookie took a deep breath. Somehow, Pam was correct. They should have been locked up and sent to an island somewhere in the open sea. But she decided to change the subject and the atmosphere. "If you are from different areas, how can I help?"

"Our families were murdered here, in Bon Temps." The man from Hot Springs said which followed by the other men. "There has to be something that you can do." Obviously, that question was directed to Eric because that man was looking at Eric.

"I am only a sheriff," Eric said. "I can't promise you much. I can protect you as long as you are in Area 5, but that's just about it."

"You've returned from the Death, Northman. If you can't protect us, then I don't know who else can."

That sentence made Eric turn his head to Sookie. It seemed he did not forget who had brought him back from the death, or who had protected him from the Death during that painful process of de-vampirized.

"Still I have to ask Her Majesty's permission, if I decide to involve myself in your matters."

"I hope you move fast, Northman. Because I am not sure if my people can wait your help too long." The man from Beaumont said. "We are not so many anymore because for a long time we've followed the rules in our clan to marry each other. Our women are too old to bear children now and our numbers are reducing dramatically. We come to Bon Temps to find fresh blood for our clan and not to get slaughtered."

"I thought you can turn somebody into weres by biting them," Sookie said. Her mind was on Jason.

"Yes, and that's exactly what we are talking about here. All victims were those who became weres by biting or weres second generation."

'Becoming weres by biting' Sookie could understand that. But, "What is weres second generation?"

"Weres who were born from pure-blood werewolves and non werewolves, but she or he comes from werewolves bloodline."

"We call them half-bred."

Alcide growled. His canine teeth came out.

The man from Beaumont touched his hat. "I am sorry, Alcide, I don't mean to offend you. I have ones of my own too. My brother marries with a pure werewolf."

_And I have two; Jason and his child. I don't even know if I have a niece or a nephew._

"Of course it's not your problem, Northman." The man from Beaumont continued. "Since your people will never have children, or are you considering your kind as a half bred, since all of you come from biting?"

Sookie felt her heart stop beating. James…what happened if they knew that Eric had a son? She looked at Eric and cursed him for showing no reaction to their question. He leaned on his chair and seemed not to be bothered. There was no changing of expression on his face, not even a little muscle movement.

"I don't want my house as a Mecca for the werewolves," finally he said. His voice was icy. "It will attract too much attention."

The werewolves were protesting. One was louder than the other; saying it was for a waste of time coming to this place.

"I am not saying that I don't want to help," Eric's voice was above the rest. "I am saying I don't want every one of you seek for sanctuary here."

"Then what shall we do, Northman?" the man from Mississippi asked.

"That is the wrong question to the wrong man, Thompson." The man from Hot Springs said. "He doesn't have a kin; he doesn't know what it means. I thought returning from the Death would make you appreciate life more. I guess I was wrong. We are leaving."

One by one stood up. Eric did not move. Sookie looked at him, gave a sign with her eyes asking him to stop them from leaving, but Eric did not react. Finally, when she could not stand it anymore, she stood up. Before she opened her mouth, Eric said. "I'll talk to the Queen. In the meantime, you are welcome to stay in Shreveport, under my protection. Spread the word."

"How long do we have to wait for your Queen's word?" One of the men asked.

"Alcide will tell you the result."

Some of the men murmured 'thank you' before they left.

"Bill," Eric said. "Do you think you can arrange the meeting between Her Majesty and me?"

"I can try." Bill answered. "In the meantime, what would you do?"

Eric slowly rose from his chair. "I will gather some information. Pam, contact the Police officers from Shreveport. See if there is a new development in the murder case. Do what you think necessary to get the information."

"Yes, Eric."

"And you," Eric looked at Sookie. The lights that came out of his blue eyes were sharp like thousand needles aiming at her, making her shivered. "Come with me." He stood up and walked away.

Sookie did not move. She would not go anywhere with Eric, not with that tone, and especially not with that attitude. No, Sir!

Eric stopped dead. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, he turned around. His eyes were softer. "Please?"

Sookie raised her chin and walked to upstairs, followed by Eric.

Eric opened the door to Aude's room, but Sookie refused to enter. Not with that black ladies nightgown still on the bed. Not before her perfume's gone, not before the whole room was disinfected, or better, not before he demolished that room and built a new one on it!

"Where are you going to sleep tonight?" Eric asked.

_Where do you think, Monkey?_

Eric's eyes were narrowing, and then a smirk was on his face. She did not know what he was thinking, and to be honest, it interested her, the least. He walked to her room and opened the door for her.

Sookie entered. Eric closed the door behind him.

"Who else knows about James?"

He had considered the same thing that Sookie did. At least he showed a sign that he cared about his son. Sookie felt better already. If there was something that she knew than Eric's loyalty. He could be loyal to Godric, he could be loyal to his son too.

"Lafayette and his boyfriend," she answered.

"Your brother?"

Sookie shook her head. "Only them. I don't know if Pam and Godric know about him, I have a feeling that they do."

"That can be taken care of."

"What do you mean? Do you want to glamour them? No! You can't do that to James! He loves them! You will make him very sad if they suddenly don't recognize him!"

"It's for his safety,"

"No." Sookie said. "He's been through a rough time for the last days; Lafayette and Joseph were with him, supported and understood him. I will not let you or anybody else take away the most important people in his life!"

"A rough time?"

"Yes." Sookie looked at him straight onto his eyes. "He believed you never wanted him."

His head moved like a snake.

"Did you?"

"He's my son," he said, but his voice sounded as if he was not so sure about it.

"That will be enough for him," Sookie said, to her own surprise, her voice did not sound trembling. For a moment, she thought she would be sad to hear that kind of uncertainty from Eric. Strange that feeling was easily disappeared or pushed away by the thought of James' happiness to hear his father accepted him. "You tell him that, it will settle our matters."

"Settle our matters?"

"You chose Aude, and it seems to me, you already move on."

His eyes were narrowing. Those striking blue eyes were looking at her from the head down to the toes, and back up again, slowly and inch per inch, with a smile on his face, as if he was thinking what he wanted to do with her. When their eyes met each other, he said, "Come to me." Just like in the dream.

Sookie felt the temperature of her body was rising. Those eyes, that smile and that voice, she could not count how many times she had seen them and how their owner had been able to make her reach her orgasm repeatedly. Now, they were just a few steps away from a place, which could make that happen. She almost took a step when the image of the black nightgown flashed on her eyes.

"Come to me," now his voice was deeper and hoarse.

_He is trying to glamour me! _Sookie screamed in her head, when she realized what he was doing._ "Aargh!" Sookie let out a scream. Unbelievable! Hasn't he realized by now that I cannot be glamoured by any vampires?!_

Suddenly he grinned.

"What are you grinning for?!" asked Sookie, almost yelling.

His grin was wider. "I knew you got your telepathic powers back," he said, opening the door. "I just wanted to be sure." Then he left her.

Sookie was standing there; cursing, for letting herself to fall for his trick, again.

***********


	7. The Invitation

Six

**The Invitation**

The hot July air always managed to bring the strangest things to happen.

Around a month ago, Sookie would have never thought that she was going to return to Bon Temps and did exactly what she had been trying to avoid for the last fifteen years of her life. It did not matter how many times she told herself that she would only live temporarily in her former beloved town, she could not get rid off the feeling that this town had already captured her and it had no intention to let her go easily.

Since Eric had agreed to welcome the werewolves in his area, more and more people came to Bon Temps. At the beginning, they come from the area around Shreveport, like Minden, or Ruston. Then people from Vidalia came; the next thing Sookie knew, somebody from South Nevada popped up at her office.

Sookie did not know how those werewolves communicated with each other. Possibly via modern technology like e-mails or textings, or perhaps they had some kind of old ways to deliver messages without being intercepted by third parties, but the fact that Eric's word had been spread around very fast, had given Sookie the idea to register the names of werewolf families. If they were able to deliver those messages, they must have known each other, or?

However, it was not as easy as what Sookie had thought. When Sookie told Alcide the idea, he said that none of the clan would give away their identity. The vampires, they were on a better position compared to the werewolves or any other weres. They had found 'True Blood'. What excuse would it be available for the werewolves to come out?

"The way the human has pictured us – werewolves, has not exactly been kind through the ages." Alcide said. "Not only that we were pictured as uncontrollable, mad, filthy beasts, but we were also pictured as raving human flesh eaters.

The myths about werewolves were many times connected with cruelty and death. Hecate, one of Greek's goddess, was not only a powerful witch; the source of the dark magic, but she was also accompanied by three wolves. The King Lycaon, the cruel king of Arcadia, was turned into a wolf by Zeus, after he had served Zeus with body part of a child. In Chinese culture, wolf is a symbol of cruelty, greed and voracity. In the Viking culture, the doomsday would be started when Skoll and Hate – the two children of Fenrir – the mighty wolf; swallowed the sun and the moon. Even in fairy tales, there were the big bad wolf in 'Little Red Riding Hood' and 'Cry Wolf'! I don't have to mention how the moviemakers have pictured us, do I? The Wolfman, The Howling, American Werewolf in London, Dog Soldiers, The Wolfen…well, I have to admit Olivier Martinez looked good in Blood and Chocolate, or Michael Sheen in Underworld, he could be one us…still they should have asked me," Alcide touched his wavy hair and smiled, made Sookie draw a smile too.

"Of course, there were also cultures, which 'worshipped' wolves; but it could be counted with fingers, such as the Romans. The founder of their empires, the twin brothers, Remus and Romulus, had been taken care of and raised by wolf. Or the Tlingit people, whose token was wolf. Odin, the Viking God, besides raven, he had been accompanied by two wolves, Geri and Freki."

Somehow, Sookie admired Alcide's knowledge about his heritage. He seemed to be a kind of person who would not do the things half-heartedly. Who were still willing to read ancient story of the Greek Myth these days? Hell, she had already forgotten the old legends and myths of Bon Temps, let alone Greek!

"Wolves are majestic social creatures," Alcide continued without hiding his proud voice. "We are not different from any other social beings. We live in pacts, we protect the weaker members of our family, and we know boundaries; not only that, we also respect the boundaries. It's very rarely that our members of the clan live alone, except, he is already too old or he is ready to build his own family. But as long as they live with the family, they have the same responsibility and rights like any other members.

So tell me, Sookie. What is the different between us, werewolves, and you, normal human beings?"

To be honest, Sookie could not see any different. It was as if Alcide was describing any normal member of society, by normal she meant 'human', plain average grey if not even boring human family, who lived their lives day by day without any ambition or sign of having adventurous life.

"But it's worth to try, Alcide," she said. "The way I see it, the more we know about the werewolves' community, the easier it will be for us to take the further step. At least, we – in this case you and your council, can organize the members and inform them about the situation."

"I don't know, Sookie. I have a feeling it's like making some kind of survey. The reason we keep ourselves in some kind of secret society is just like the reason the vampires did not come out all of this time. We are afraid of the reaction of the human."

"How will we be able to protect your people if we don't even know who your people are?"

Alcide was quiet for a while before he said, "Let's just say we agree to do it. What will you do then?"

"Put the name in some kind of record and keep it safe. I don't care who will keep the record as long as it will be accessible at any time we want it."

"You know the danger of that record, don't you? If our enemies ever found out the existence of that record, it will be race genocide. Honestly, Sookie. I am terrified with that imagination."

Alcide was right. It was a dangerous idea.

"But the way I see it," his voice sounded bitter. "That's the only way. I'll call for the meeting and tell you the result. Let's hope Kwatee be with us."

The second thing was to register the people who became weres as the result of the biting. That turned to be harder to do. As Sookie then found out that not all of them realized that they had changed, and if they did, not all of them were willing to declare themselves as ones. Some of them did not care about it, but the majority were that they had problems to deal with the transformation and or ashamed with their present situation.

Sookie had asked Jason to move in. She needed him not only to help her to find out the weres but also to keep eye on James. Since the night of the arrival of the weres, James was eager to learn more about shooting. He wanted to learn how to handle the guns better and he wanted also to learn martial art from Jason, just in case, there would be situation that he had to fight with bare hands.

Sam and Alcide joined the training (that's the way Jason called it) from time to time. Maybe it was only Sookie's feeling, but both of them were like dogs, which were playing with their little master. They wrestled with James, or played football. Sookie did not want to be too suspicious about them, but it seemed to her, it looked like they had tried to leave traces on James' body as much as possible because she swore; she had smelt at least two different strong body odours on James' clothes, even after the clothes were washed and ironed. It's like they had 'marked' James as their cub.

Strangely, James looked always a bit nervous around Eric. He became clumsy and quiet, especially when they were at the table. He knocked something over or accidentally let something fall off his hands. He talked with full mouth, or stuttered. Something in a way that Eric spoke or looked would make him jump. James was not a kind of boy, who easily got afraid, but around Eric, he was _different. _

Normally, Eric would sit across to her, drink his True Blood, whilst listening to Alcide's daily report. From time to time, he would give her a vague smile, just a tiny bit to let her know that he had eye on her. Sookie would be drawn to steal a time to look at him; how he dressed up to nine, with his smart choices of shirt, whether it was black, dark blue or white. They looked good on him. His long blond hair would lazily rest on his shoulder and like the rest of his body, seemed to tease her, seduce her to touch with its faint sweet smell of jasmine.

Sometimes, Eric would ask one or two question to James, and in Sookie's annoyance, he would bow close to James and whispered the words. The result was James would look more and more nervous. Every time she asked him, James just shook his head, and said, "I can't tell you." But once he asked her, "How did he know I had played football with Sam this afternoon?"

_He can smell Sam on your body, _Sookie would like to answer, but instead she said, "Maybe Sam told him."

"There's no way that Sam would do that. He doesn't like Sam," James answered.

"How do you know?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" James said, but his head said, _stupid, stupid, stupid._

Yeah, how did he know that Eric did not like Sam? Well, 'did not like' would be a strong word, but Eric never showed any sign that he enjoyed Sam's company at his house. Good for Sam, he did not seem to care about Eric's reaction. And what did James mean with "stupid, stupid, stupid'? Sookie used to say that in her head if she thought she had said things she should have not said.

"What did he say about it?"

"Oh, he just say, maybe I should consider learning how to use swords, instead of playing football. Sword? What is he? A warrior or something?"

Well, something like that. Eric must have been a Viking warrior or chieftain, something like that. But Sookie agreed with James. He had learned how to handle guns, he did not need to learn to master other weapon. He's just a boy, for crying out loud, let him play games from time to time! What else did he need to learn? Flying?!

Sooner or later, Sookie had to put the end of this. She had to talk to Eric. If his own son was afraid of him, how would they develop a healthy relationship?

The other thing that drove Sookie crazy was the perfume that he wore would stay in the room, even when Eric had left to Fangtasia. She had decided that if she wanted to live at Northman Mansion peacefully, without being angry or even bothered if one day she saw a woman's cloth or even a woman on Aude's bed, even when she would live there for a short time, she had to be able to ignore him.

She had been trying to avoid Eric, especially at the time when he woke up and went to swim or took a bath. She did not want to see him running around only with his underwear. These days, she swore or maybe it's just her eyes, his underwear was getting shorter and tighter, showing her what's he got, and she knew what he got beneath that underwear. She avoided being in the kitchen or anywhere near his room – he used Aude's room for changing cloth around his 'bathing' time. Even then, once or twice they had bumped to each other, and damn, he smelt good as ever. His perfume was rich, a combination of wood, flower and moos. As if by smelling him, she had been taken to the middle of The Bon Temps Woods.

For a moment she had thought she was again deceit by his tricky mind, until yesterday, when a special delivery from Leclreq's Perfumery had came; a golden bottle of Chypre de Coty for Mr. Northman, a special present from Her Majesty, Queen Sophie-Anne Leclreq. When Sookie searched for it in the Internet, she read some ingredients of this perfume were bergamot orange, jasmine and oak moss; plants that people could find in the wood of Bon Temps. She had not been imagining after all.

Last night as her mind had been floating between the dream and the wake-up phase; that perfume had reached her nose again. She even could feel his hair and his cold chest had pressed closed to hers.

"Sleep, my lover," she heard his voice, whispering. "Sleep,"

"Eric…" she looked for his hands; she wanted to push it away, but when she had it in her hand, she held it tightly. "Eric…"

"Sleep, my lover. Sleep," his voice was like a distant echo.

Sookie had fallen asleep like a log. Eric's cold body, his perfume and hearing his voice were like a lullaby for her. The weariness and the tiredness she had felt during the day were disappeared like the dew in the morning when the sun came out.

She knew she should have been worried that Eric would use that situation to arouse her or to do what they had always done every time they had their body closed to each other like that, having sex and Eric would drink her blood, but somehow that thought was gone. The next thing she knew was she woke up in the morning with heavy head. The smell of his perfume was all over her body, made her unable to think about anything else, but him. She had checked her body thoroughly while she was having a shower and she did not find any new bite, except on her hand and two almost fading points on her left shoulder. Eric had bitten her as he jumped out of his coffin three weeks ago.

This evening, after the dinner Eric asked Alcide and Sam to stay. Something important had come up. Sookie could tell from Eric's gesture. He became colder, if that's possible.

"I have sought to have an audience from Her Majesty and she has agreed," he said. "I can't promise anything, it is possible that your request would not…please her."

"I take that chance," Alcide said. "I believe there's a greater evil behind the murders that have been taking place, Eric. If we do not work together, I am afraid; there will be no chance for my people."

"Unfortunately, I also believe that my act would not be regarded loyal by other vampires. If there is something that might harm my personal interests, what could you possibly offer me?"

"You know that I will give my life if what you mean with 'personal interests' are Sookie and her son. You don't have to ask me that, Eric."

Eric smirked. "Don't overestimate my generosity, Alcide." Then he smiled. "But I take your word for it. I never doubt your loyalty."

"Thank you, Eric." Alcide nodded and shot Sookie with his brilliant smile.

"Just make sure you don't cross the line," Eric continued. His blue eyes were narrowing. "I might change my mind."

Alcide's smile was disappeared.

Sookie felt her chest heavy. This big kitchen seemed to get smaller by minutes. There was definitely too much testosterone in this room!

"I don't understand why you need me, Northman," said Sam. "As I said earlier, I can't provide any data about the shifters. I don't know any of them."

"You're a good detective, Merlotte," said Eric. His cold eyes were now aiming at him. "You could find out about me, surely you could find out about this one."

Eric did not forget that Sam was the one who told Sookie about the blood bond.

"I guess you're right," Sam said. To Sookie's surprise, he was smiling. He seemed to enjoy that he was able to annoy Eric in someway. "I can do that."

"Good, then it settles." Eric said. "I'm leaving tonight."

"Tonight?" Sookie looked at Eric.

"The invitation had just arrived yesterday," he said.

The perfume was the invitation. The queen knew what kind of perfume he wore? Sookie wondered whether Eric had told her majesty, or simply rubbed his body on hers.

"May I come with you?" James' voice made Sookie turn around. James was sitting on the tread. "I never see the Queen's palace before."

"Honey, I don't go with Eric." Sookie said.

"But he's going to invite you to come with him, right…?" James stopped his sentence. It seemed he considered how to address Eric in public. "…Eric?"

Sookie could hear in James' voice how much he wanted to go with Eric. She swore, Eric had better not let him down or…

"Make yourself ready," Eric said. "We'll go in an hour,"

"Yes, Eric." Then James ran to upstairs, not long after that they all heard him screaming, "YES!"

James could not wait to leave the mansion. He was literally jumping on his feet, waiting for Eric to finish giving some instructions to Alcide. "What is he doing?" he asked several times.

Sookie looked at him with a heavy heart. James was full of hope and seemed eager to be with his father. If only Eric could show his feelings a little bit, just a little bit. This fear of seeing James being mistreated by Eric would not be so strong.

They could not use Eric's red corvette car, since that car had only two seats. Alcide let him use his blue BMW, only with a promise that Eric would pay any damage that he cost. It seemed Eric had some kind of 'reckless driver reputation' that made other people reluctantly let him drive their cars, not that he ever needed one.

"It will take more than four hours from here to Baton Rouge," said Sookie as they were leaving the mansion. "It would be faster if you flew."

"I know."

"You can fly?" asked James. His eyes were widened.

"Yes, I can fly," said Eric as if it had been nothing.

"Cool!" said James.

A faint smile was on Eric face.

"Are we not going to be too late to go to Her Majesty's court?"

"Her Majesty always asks me to come one day earlier before the official meeting," Eric said. "She likes my company."

_I bet she is, _Sookie thought.

"Because normally I have Pam with me," Eric continued. "Her Majesty…prefers to have Pam in her chamber for the briefing. Alone."

For the moment, Sookie did not quite catch what Eric meant. Then, she understood it. "They are…lovers?"

"No," Eric said. "They take advantage of each other." Then he smirked.

"Pam likes girls?" asked James.

"Mostly," Eric said.

Eric had been Pam's lover, Pam said, long time ago. Sookie had no idea what Pam meant with 'long time ago', fifty, one hundred years ago?

"I don't know that," James murmured.

"Talking about Pam," Sookie turned around. "Why did she tell you that the victim was a werewolf? It didn't sound like Pam to me."

"She did not exactly tell me…"

"But?"

"I heard her talking."

Eric looked at James through the mirror. "To whom?"

"I…"

Bang!

A loud noise filled the air.

At first Sookie thought, the tire went flat, but the car moved wildly. Eric had lost control over the wheel.

"Eric!" Sookie grabbed the wheel and tried to bring the car back to the road.

Bang!

The second loud noise was heard.

"Eric!"

But Eric did not answer anymore.

A bullet had flew through the front window and landed on his head. The old vampire was thrown back. His head fell on the left window.

"Papa!" James opened his belt and leaned on forward to check him.

"No, James! Back to your seat!"

Bang!

"James!"

At that moment when Sookie turned around see what happened to James, she lost the control over the wheel. The car went wildly off the road and with full power hit the tree. Brack! For some minutes, the car engine made its last sound before finally went quiet. Nothing was heard, but the sound of night insects and other night animals steadily filled the fresh air of Bon Temps wood.

**********


	8. On the Road

**Author's Note: While I was listening "I botten på glaset" (In the bottom of the glass) and "Köpenhamn (Copenhagen, Denmark)" from Bo Kaspers Orkester, I wrote this chapter.**

**Vic, thanks!  
**

Seven

**On the Road**

Sookie felt as if her heart was bursting out of her chest. It was so painful that she almost could not move. For a second, she had a crazy imagination that what had just happened was only a dream. They had not been shot, it had been only a nightmare, but as the pain was getting stronger, she knew, it had been real.

She did not know how long she had been unconscious. She must have hit the wheel very hard on the chest when the car hit the tree. Argh…her head was also painful. Oh, what had happened? She removed the seatbelt.

Slowly the surrounding was getting clear. The front window was broken into pieces. Some of the pieces were on the dashboard and on her cloth. Somebody must have shot them. She remembered how Eric fell on the left window when they hit him on the head. "Eric…" she turned around. Eric was not there and the door was opened. There was a bullet on the seat, it was probably the same one that had been in his head. Could vampires simply push any strange object out of their body, even a bullet? Anyway, he's alive, but where was he? And James? Sookie forced herself to lift her body so that she was able to see James. "James…are you okay?"

No answer.

"James?"

Still no answer.

Sookie panicked. _No, God. Please, no. Not James. _Shaken from fear, Sookie opened her seatbelt and went out of the car. Argh! Her chest was hot and like being smashed by a hammer. She forced herself to reach the back door. "James…answer me, Baby…"

James was lying on the back seat. His t-shirt was wet and red.

"No! James!" Sookie went in. "Answer me, Baby! James…" she took him in her arms. The pain in her chest was getting stronger, but she did not acknowledge it anymore. "Where is Eric? Eric!!!" She yelled out. "Eric!"

"Mom…" James' voice was weak. "Mom…"

"I am here, Baby. I am here." Sookie held him tighter. "Eric!"

But there was no answer. The woods was silent as ever.

Sookie felt her heart racing like crazy. _Think, think, think! _She told herself. She may not get panicked. She had to be able to think clearly. She did not know where Eric was at the time and it was not important. James' safety was more important than anything else!

Help. She must get some help somehow. The police! Sookie tried to reach her bag, which was on the front seat. She had to call the police. "Oh, come on!" she said, almost screaming when her hand was only some inches away from her bag. After some effort of pushing her own body, she managed to reach it.

"Mom…I am cold…" his face was getting paler.

"I am here, James." she kissed his head. "I am here, Baby." She dialed 911.

"Bon Temps Sheriff Office, Dianne speaking."

"Help!" Sookie said. "I need help."

"What can I do for you, Ma'am?"

"Somebody had shot us. Can you help me, please? My son, he was hit."

"Calm down, Ma'am. Can you tell us where your location is?"

"I don't know." Sookie looked around. There was nothing to see but the darkness of the night. "We…are…we are in the Bon Temps Woods."

"Say what? Oh, Sally…is that you? Come on, Sally. It's not funny!"

"No, this is not Sally and I am not joking. Somebody had shot us!"

"Nice try, Sally."

"Dianne…please…" Tut, tut, tut. The phone had been hung up. "Hallo?!" Sookie screamed at the phone. "Hallo?!"

Brack!

A loud noise was heard as something hit the car.

Sookie held James tighter. She felt her body shaking, but she whispered to James. "Mommy is here, Baby. Don't be afraid."

"I am cold, Mom."

Sookie kissed his head. Nervously, she opened her bag. Her gun, she had to have her hand on her gun. She would pull the trigger to anything or anybody who came near her. She could feel how shaken her hand was as she cocked the gun.

"I thought you were Alcide…" she heard a strange voice. "I am sorry, all right…I did not mean to shoot you or your family."

Somebody growled. Sookie recognized the voice as he said, "Tell me who sent you to ambush Alcide!" It was Eric.

"Man, I can't do that. They will kill me. But I will go away, all right, and tell nobody that you…"

"Tell me!" his voice was deeper and hoarse.

"It was…"

Bang!

A loud noise was heard and the next thing Sookie saw was something red mixed with white stuff covered the car's window.

Sookie gasped. It…had been that man's head…

Eric let out a loud growl that made the hair at the back of her neck standing. For a second Sookie felt numb. She did not know what to do or to think. It seemed everything stopped still. Also when she saw a face covered with blood looked through the window, she could not do anything, until a weak voice called out her name.

"Mom…"

Everything was slowly coming back to her. "Eric," she was choked. Then with the power that she still had in her, she called him. "Eric!"

That red face came to her.

"James…he was hit."

Eric looked at him. Then he took him away from Sookie.

"He was hit, Eric. I…I could not call…"

Eric put James carefully on the ground. Then with one pull, he ripped off James' t-shirt. Click. His fangs were out. He lifted James and brought him to his mouth.

"No! No, Eric! You may not turn him!" Sookie jumped out of the car. The power that had been gone from her, returned like a blitz. No, no, no! But too late, With one movement, those fangs were bored into his chest.

Sookie felt her feet shaking. Tears ran down on her face. Her son…her beloved son…her only son…was turned into vampire by his own father…she felt the ground under her feet also shaking. James…

Puff…cling, cling…a bullet jumped out of Eric's mouth as he spat out the blood and hit the asphalt.

Sookie looked at Eric. The bullet…Eric…Eric was trying to suck the bullet out of James' body, he was not…

Eric bit his own wrist and gave it to James. "Drink." He said. His voice was low, but there was a commanding tone that could not be mistaken. When James seemed to hesitate to do it, Eric repeated his order, this time with a softer voice. "Drink, my son."

A rustling sound was heard.

At first, Sookie thought it was only her imagination, but when Eric moved his head, looking for the source of the sound, she knew, there was something; an animal a person.

James took Eric's wrist and sucked his blood.

"Yes, my son. Drink it."

The place became quiet; Sookie could not hear any other sound, but James', how strongly he was sucking Eric's blood as if he was having his favourite dishes. She knew how it tasted; she had it once or twice. She knew the result of the action, but to be honest, at this moment, James' safety was more important than the side effect.

After a while, Eric let James go. "Enough, James," he said. "Now, you need a rest." Carefully he put James' head on the ground. Then he walked away from him and from Sookie.

"Eric…" Sookie went after him.

Eric stopped dead. His arms were a bit bent. His gesture was not what Sookie could call friendly. He bent his hand, his head was a bit bowed and his hands were formed like claws. Nevertheless, she wanted to say it, "Thank you."

Eric did not react.

Sookie touched his arms, which were wet from blood. "I am sorry." She said. "I…I wasn't thinking…I thought I was losing him…"

Eric turned around and took her in his arms.

Sookie held him tight. All the feelings she had before, now took over her, made her unable to do anything else, but cried. Her whole body was shaking. James was safe. She told herself repeatedly. He was safe. Eric's blood would help him heal faster. Everything would be all right.

"I should have said no," Sookie heard Eric saying, his voice was trailing, as if he was talking to somebody who was not there. "He should have stayed home with the others," Then he sniffed. His voice changed into the cold tune she had been hearing lately. "They are coming."

"They?"

"Pam and Chow. I told them to come."

Pam came with a black Cadillac sedan. She ran to James as soon as she got out of the car. James was already sitting on the ground as she came near him. "Are you all right, Darling?"

James touched his chest. "I felt something hot going through my chest, and then I did not remember anything." Pam and Sookie helped him getting up. "Strange," he said. "I swore I heard Eric calling me…" he looked at Eric. His jaw dropped as he saw Eric's face. "What happened to you?" Before Eric answered, his attention was to the headless man on the ground. "Is that…"

"Pam, take Sookie to your place. We'll meet you there." Eric said, taking James by his legs, and like putting a sack of potatoes, he plunged James on his shoulder. "Chow, clean up this mess."

"Yes, Boss."

"Are we flying?" asked James.

"Yes," said Eric.

"Cool!" said James.

With one leap, they shot through the sky and swallowed by the darkness.

"Come, Sookie."

Sookie looked up with a little hope that she could catch the glimpse of Eric and James. Obviously, there was nothing to see. The sky was too dark, even for a star to be seen. Sookie sighed and took her bag. Then she followed Pam. "He did not even say goodbye," Sookie murmured.

Pam drove away her car from the spot. "What happened?" she asked.

"Somebody shot us. I think they have mistaken us for Alcide. We used his car, you know."

"Where were you heading?"

"The Queen has agreed to meet Eric, you know, to discuss about The Werewolves' problem. Eric wanted to go to Baton Rouge tonight and James wanted to go with him. He cannot use The Red because…"

"It has only two seats."

"Yes. So we borrowed Alcide's car," tears ran down on Sookie's cheek. "I should have thought…"

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Sookie. You could not know."

"But we should have been able to predict that things like this could happen."

"They aimed the second class werewolves," Pam said. "Alcide is a pure werewolf, they would not target him. Besides, they used a silver knife and not a bullet. You would not know, don't blame yourself."

Even then, she should have considered that possibility.

"James will need a cold head, now." Pam said. "Eric is very angry at the moment, it will not be easy to keep him under control, I can tell you."

"Eric is…angry? How can you tell? I don't see any different."

"You'll learn," Pam said.

"Can he not simply say it?"

"He wouldn't be Eric, then," Pam smiled. "It's been a long time I saw him involving his emotions. Perhaps, fifteen years being locked up will change a person."

Eric was involving his emotions? She thought Eric did not have any emotion! And…how…something hit her head. "Jesus…" she sighed.

"What?"

"I thought…I thought he was turning James into vampires."

All of sudden, the car stopped.

Sookie was pulled to the front and almost hit the dashboard with her head. "What?!"

"What did you say?"

"I thought he was turning James…"

Pam put her hand in front of her mouth. Sookie never saw Pam so shocked like this before. Her eyes were widened and beneath that hand, Sookie believed, her mouth was opened.

"No wonder that he was angry."

"What?"

"You know, for us, drinking blood was not only about having warm food, I know it sounds banal, but it is the way we see it. Now, turning somebody into a vampire, creating a child, is like having a sex with that person. Of course, it was not exactly having a sex, but the feeling, the intensity, how you and your future child became one, listening to her or his heartbeat which was getting more and more slowly, and how her or his blood was getting hotter and hotter…it was like having orgasm. The process itself was rather ghastly, to be honest. You dried them up – bled them out and just before the heartbeat stopped, you gave them your blood. Then you buried them in the ground. You wait for the next night and that person is yours, forever. Eric is very serious with that matter. I am his only – in quote – "child". He has never made anybody else. So, accusing Eric for wanting to turn James was like…." Pam did not continue, but Sookie knew what it meant. It was as if she had accused him of having a sex with James.

_Dear Lord. _Sookie closed her face with her hands.

"You couldn't have known." Pam started the engine. "Talk to him, he would understand."

Sookie looked at Pam, and then at the road in front of her. "I don't know, Pam."

"Both of you have been separated for fifteen years. Don't you have anything, anything at all, to say to each other?"

To be honest, Sookie did not know anymore. Eric was not like the one she had known once. Or had she known him at all?

The car moved fast on the streets of Bon Temps. Sookie looked at outside through the window. The lights were moving like deformed things, blurring her sights and unclearing her minds. And as the car stopped in front of a house, Sookie knew, sooner or later, she had to face Eric. Alone. After that, she would be able to decide to stay with him or to move on and not before.

Alcide needed her help. He would need her as a complete person, heart and soul, to be able to help him. Otherwise, she could pack her bag and return to Baton Rouge.

Sookie opened the door and slowly entered Pam's House.

**********


	9. At Pam's House

**Author's Note : To charhamblin; I hope this chapter answers your questions.**

**Thanks to Vic, I have learned a new word today. Faucet/tap.  
**

Eight

**At Pam's House  
**

James was sleeping, when Sookie entered Chow's room. He wore a big red t-shirt with Chinese words on it. His trousers and shoes were on the floor. His bloody t-shirt was nowhere to be found. Eric must have put it in a trash bin.

"It's good that he sleeps now," Pam said. "After what happened, he really needs it." They closed the door softly so as not to wake him. "You also need some rest, Sookie. Come, clean up yourself and try to get some sleep. You can use my room. I'll show you."

Sookie followed Pam. "Where's Eric?"

"In his room, I suppose."

"He has a room, here?"

"Yes, he does. Sometimes, when it is too late for him to return home, he sleeps here." She looked at Sookie. "May I offer you a cup of tea?"

"You have tea?"

"Yes, I like the smell of it. But, if you drink coffee…"

"Tea would be fine, thank you."

Pam opened the door, and then she left.

Pam's bedroom was a surprise for her. Sookie thought, she would find something 'Gothic' or 'dominant black' in the room. Instead, most of the things here were pastel. The wall was painted soft pink. On it was a big picture of three hats. The bed cover was in soft blue and mocha, with floral motives on it. The bed itself was made of brass-covered steel with very feminine style. It had four pillars with classical Roman bars in between and four knobs on the top of them. Beside the bed was a low dark brown night desk made of oak wood. A table lamp was on it; and it had a soft pink shade.

For a moment Sookie thought, she had entered the wrong room.

She realized more and more that she knew nothing about Eric and his people. What they had shown to the world was completely different from what they were in their private spheres. Who would think that at home, Pam would be so 'girly' like this?

Sookie kicked off her shoes and opened her blouse. People would not see her so much different, in the office or at home. Most of the time she wore a blouse and skirt; and very rarely wore jeans or t-shirt. She did not do so much out door sport, except shooting. She kept her house in Baton Rouge very simple. She had only some little ornament and pictures of James and her. She had enough money; that was true, more than enough to hire an interior decorator and ask him to beautify her house, but she did not want to do that. Eric had left her that money. As she found out that she had been pregnant with James, she had decided not to touch that money. She wanted to give them all to James, when his time came to be independent and start his life.

Sookie rolled her blouse and looked around to find a laundry box or basket, when she realized, somebody had been watching her the whole time.

Eric. He was standing beside the bathroom door, wearing nothing but a pink towel with bright red small hearts on it. There was no blood on his body anymore and his hair was dripping wet.

And she was standing in front of him with a bra and a skirt, plus blood stains.

"I thought you were at your own room," Sookie said, trying to act as normal as possible.

"Pam forgot to put towel on the shelves," Eric said. "So I took a shower here."

"You look nice in pink,"

"Yeah, I know," Eric smirked. "I should wear it more often."

"How was James when you two arrived?"

"Pretty shaken," he said. "He tried to be brave, making a joke about being a superhero, wearing his underwear outside his trousers, but I could feel that he was afraid."

Sookie smiled. "Poor boy."

"Yes." Eric opened the bathroom door. "You'd better clean up. I can smell that the blood starts to get rotten. It's not good for your skin."

Sookie entered the bathroom. They had almost touched each other as Sookie walked through the door because Eric did not want to move even an inch away. His intoxicating perfume was gone; instead, Sookie smelt a fine smell of coffee. Coffee? Was there any shampoo with coffee essence?

The bathroom was also in pink. The walls were pink, the commode at the corner was combination of gold and pink; even the bathtub and the shower were pink.

Sookie put her blood stained blouse into the basket, and then she turned on the warm water. The faucet was made from brass and had a shape of a flower. The sink was from soft pink marble.

Eric was still standing at the door, watching every move she made. "The towels are in the drawer," he said.

"Thanks," Sookie opened the drawer and took two towels out. She closed the faucet and soaked one of the towels in it.

From the mirror, Sookie could see how Eric's eyes exploring her body. She knew, she was different from the last time Eric had seen her naked, which was fifteen years ago. She also knew, she had a proportional figure. She had gained more weights after James' birth. Her cloth size was 40 now, and if she was lucky, she could get 38, but very rarely. Her figure was still in shape, thanks to her discipline of doing aerobics every Friday evening. Her hips were bigger and her thighs were also bigger, but they were firm. She had been never a skinny woman, and as she grew older, it was getting more and more difficult to maintain her weight.

Eric, on the other hand, did not change a bit. His broad shoulder, his flat stomach and his firm bottom stayed the same. No additional fat or wrinkles were on his body. His hair was still in the same length and his face was as young as fifteen years ago. Before, Eric had looked older than she had; now, she was the one who looked older.

Sookie took out the towel from the water and cleaned up the blood on her breast.

"You've got blood on your back too," Eric said.

It must have been there when Eric was holding her.

"Allow me to help you," he said. Without waiting for an answer, he took a small face cloth and soaked it in the warm water. Softly he wiped off her back. His hand was cold, but Sookie felt like she was being touched by fire. 'Click' she heard his fangs were out. Eric was aroused.

It was easy, actually, with Eric. She knew more or less when he wanted her. His fangs were always clicked out every time he had lust. If what was happening now - they were half-naked and Eric was horny, happened fifteen years ago, they would have ended up somewhere else, making love, and not standing in the bathroom continued cleaning up the blood on her body.

"It's clean," Eric said. His fingers were now on her bra. "You should remove your bra, it makes the cleaning easier."

"Only if you're out of the room," Sookie said.

"Why should I? I saw you naked before," Eric said. "You are not _that_ different, are you?"

Sookie turned around. "Am I?"

Eric walked some steps backward. His eyes were flickering and the fangs in his mouth were aiming at her neck. With a blink of an eye, he was standing closed to her. For a moment, Sookie thought he would bore those fangs into her neck, but no, he only touched her neck with his cold hand, and then slowly followed her vein with a tip of his finger.

Sookie felt her body screaming for more. She realized how much she had missed his touch. She felt her nipples getting harder, as if they wanted to jump right out of her bra, and familiar feelings slowly crawling from her back down to her legs.

Eric moved closer. Sookie could feel how hard his cock was when it poked her leg through the towel.

All the feelings that she had been pressing inside her minds were now bursting out, making her not able to control herself. Soon before she knew it, she had put her arms around his neck and kissed him. Eric lifted her and put her on the top of the commode, and returned her kisses.

Sookie knew she would regret it, but for once, she wanted to forget everything. She wanted to forget how she had spent these fifteen years of her life comparing every man she had ever dated with Eric. Yes, she had gone on dates, but mostly they had ended badly. Her dates always said her mind was not really into them. She used James as an excuse, mostly. However, she knew, deep inside, it had always been Eric, lurking somewhere at the back of her mind, questioning her actions.

Now he was here, kissing her, touching her like those fifteen years had never happened. They tasted the same, if not even stronger and more intoxicating. His cold hand, which was in her skirt removing her panties, was as cold but soft as before. His striking blue eyes, which were flickering with lust, were the same eyes.

Sookie also wanted to forget how he had acted in the last three weeks. For the first two weeks, he had not come to her house or tried to contact her. God, how she needed an explanation, how she wanted to hear his reasons of doing it. Was she the reason or perhaps he himself was the one? The things that happened between them, did they mean anything to him?

Suddenly he stopped. He put his hands on the top of commode. If he had been a human, he would have been probably out of breath now, but since he was not, Sookie could only see his mouth open without any sound.

"You have a lot of things in your head," he said. His voice was deep and growling. He seemed annoyed. "You used to be able to enjoy me without questioning."

Sookie touched his face. Eric had always his ways with words. _Enjoy me? _She enjoyed his touch, his kiss, but 'him'? It sounded as if he was a piece of object to touch, to watch, to enjoy.

"I am not Sookie whom you once knew, Eric." Sookie said. She should have said the other way around, yet, what did she know about Eric? Barely, if not almost none. "I am forty-one years old now and I am a single mother with a teenage son."

"My son."

"Is he?"

His blue eyes looked shock. "You told me he was."

"Yes, he is your son, biologically, but do you really feel that he is yours?"

He smirked. "Yes, I can feel that he is my son,"

Sookie was not quite sure with what he meant. That smirk hid something…what? She knew, Eric could feel what James felt now because James had drunk his blood…..oh-oh, Eric did not know what awaited him in the next few years. James would enter his puberty years…_welcome to hell, Eric. _She could stop smiling. She saw some boys in their puberty years and she could only pray that James would be easy on her. All those feelings of being misunderstood, loud music, in love for the first time, insecurity, the king of the world who knew everything better….jeez, what would happen to Eric, now that James had his blood in his body?

"Why are you smiling?"

"I am glad that you _can feel _him now." Sookie tried to stop smiling. Oh, yeah. She was _really _glad. At least, she would not be alone when James' puberty came. She took a deep breath and tried to pull herself together. "What I mean, do you really feel it? Because to be honest, I haven't seen it in the last three weeks."

Eric moved away. His towel was dangling dangerously on his hips. One wrong movement, that towel could fall and Sookie was not sure if she would be able to continue the conversation if Eric stood there naked.

"I don't know." Eric said. "It's all new to me. I have Pam, yes, I made her as my child because I chose her, and I wanted her to be with me. James…I did not even know that I had him. I could not sense him, I did not understand him."

"You just knew him."

"I could understand Pam the minute I had made her."

"James is not a vampire, Eric. He is just like me," Eric lifted his eyebrow, made Sookie smile. "Not exactly like me, but you know what I mean. He is a human. Unless you could read his mind, like I do, you would not be able to 'understand' him or 'sense' him. You have to be close to him, to be with him, listen to him."

Eric put his hands on his hip. "Why did you keep him? You know I wouldn't be around to protect both of you or to provide a living for both you."

Sometimes it surprised Sookie to hear his way of thinking. Even after 1000 years of living, Eric was not able to change the way he saw women's role in his life. He had been a Viking in his human-life, and somehow, he was a Viking in his vampiric life. In his Viking way, a man's responsibility was to support, to protect and to provide a good living for his family; that the world had already given so many opportunities and rights to women to do exactly the same things the men did, seemed not to cross his thick head.

"You had left me a lot of money. It's more than enough to support our life. Besides, he is my son and I am not a kind of person who gets rid off the things that were inconvenient for me. He needs a lot of attention, love and sacrifices; yes, it's true. Sometimes it's not easy to juggle between my job, my social life and James; but I love him. I will do anything for him."

"Yes, but you need a man in your house."

"I have a man in my house."

Eric looked at her, suspiciously.

"I have James."

He smirked. The suspicion was still there and Sookie wanted to keep it there. It was good to see him annoyed and jealous like this. "I never thought that I would have a son."

"You were human at that time, remember? You were poisoned, and then Claudine and I took you to the woods…"

"Yes," he said. "And we had sex," then he smiled. "It was the first time after a long time that I felt as if I did not have bones anymore."

Sookie smiled, somehow, she was proud to hear that she had 'knocked' him out. She had not been that bad at all. "You were a man, with a man's physical capability, and it means, your sperms were…"

"Alive."

"Yes. What makes me wonder, if you were a man, didn't it mean you died as a man, too?"

"How could you be so sure that I was dead?"

"What?!"

"You talked to Niall. What did he say to you, about my condition?"

Sookie closed her eyes. What had Niall said to her….jeez, it had been a long time ago…what had he said… "He said…that..ehm.." Sookie tapped the top of the commode with her hand. "He said…" the face of her great grandfather flashed in her mind…the face which reminded her of George Clooney, the actor, his dark skin, the soft eyes…slowly the words came to her. "He could remove the silver knife's poison but not the poison from the potion….Your blood had to be…" Sookie looked at him. "Your blood had to be drained out completely…"

"And that was what Cecco's son had done," said Eric. His voice was choked. The memory of the torture must have been still strong in his mind. "It's a backfire action to him, for my benefit."

"If a human lost so much blood the way that you had, he would not survive!"

"I was in the brink of death, but I was not dead yet. You were too much in grief to realize that," he looked at her fondly. "Bill told me that you were unconscious after Cecco's and his son had died under the sun. He forced himself to wake up and gave me his blood because he could hear that my heart was still beating. Not so much, but enough to keep me alive until the sun came down. In the night, Godric took me here, and together with Pam, he filled my body with their blood."

"And you were locked up for fifteen years…alive in that coffin." Sookie got goose bumps as she said it. Fifteen years, alone, in the coffin...she could not imagine what Eric had been through.

"Yes. Godric had put me asleep. They came to me from time to time to give me their blood, clean me up. The spell that bonded me to Davydov worn out, eventually, but because Davydov tied himself to me, I was neither human nor vampire, just like Cecco's son. Godric locked me up in that coffin because he did not want me…" Eric stopped. It seemed hard for him to continue the sentence. Sookie decided to wait. After for a while, he continued, "…kill myself. Half-life is not a life to me. I have to be a human or a vampire; otherwise, death will be more suitable to me."

"Would Godric continue keeping you in that coffin, had he not known about the magic?"

"Somebody must have told him about it," he said. "Otherwise he would have not done it,"

"Dušana-Aurora," Sookie was sure about it.

"The redhead?" Eric lifted his eyebrow. "They…"

"Oh yeah, they are. Godric is crazy about her, if you must know."

Eric smiled. "He should have known. Witches' blood is a poison for vampires."

_Yeah, love poison. That's what it is._

"Then you were pregnant," Eric said, after awhile.

"Yes," Sookie said.

"James Frederick Northman…what a name…."

"Aude loved Henry James so much that I think it was a kind of legacy for her that your son was named after him."

"And Frederick…one of my names," Eric said. "How did you know that?"

"Francesco called you Frederico."

"Il mio Cecco," he said fondly. "He was a worthy and loyal friend."

"Yes, he was." Sookie said.

"James looks like him now, with black hair."

So, she was not the only one who noticed their similarity after all.

"And he speaks Swedish," His voice sounded proud.

"Oh, he's crazy about anything that Swedish," Sookie smiled. "Music, food, movies, everything."

He snorted. "And both of you live in Baton Rouge. How could he get the things he needed?"

"From Internet and Godric," Sookie said. She was not sure about Godric, but she was sure about the internet part. _"You can find anything in the Internet,"_ that was what James always said, _"Even the things that you don't want to find."_

Again, they were quiet.

Sookie could feel the tension in the air. There was something between them that could not be spoken with words. She wanted to ask about his decision of choosing Aude over her; she wanted to know why. Had he ever thought about her during his time in the coffin? Had he ever tried to break out and look for her? Why had he taken another woman before her?

Sookie did not know what was going on inside his head, but it seemed, he had a lot of questions too. Finally, Sookie decided to ask, "Why did you choose her?"

"Who?"

"Aude," _and that woman – the owner of the black ladies nightgown, whoever she was, _Sookie continued in her head.

"Was that the reason you've been avoiding me?" Eric asked.

_He noticed it. _Sookie sighed.

"Silly girl," he smirked. "Why have you not asked me about this earlier? You knew how much I want to sleep with you since the first day I saw you again, didn't you?" suddenly he was already in front of her. His nose was touching hers. "We could have been having sex right now, instead of talking in the bath room like this," he moved closer, but Sookie stopped him.

"Answer my question, please," Sookie could hear how sombre her voice was. If she listened to her body, she would not do anything else, but give herself to him; so that they could fuck each other until the morning came, yet, she wanted to know.

"You have been avoiding me because you thought I had chosen her over you? I chose her, yes, in my dream, but not in reality. Otherwise, I would have not broken the dagger."

Sookie closed her eyes. How could she forget that? She remembered now. Eric had high fever the day after he had been taken out of his vault, and he had been suffered from delusion and nightmare. Slowly she opened her eyes. "They say dreams are manifestation of the things that we wish or cannot have in our real life."

"Maybe," his eyes were aiming at her lips and this time he did not let her to stop him from kissing them. He held her hands behind her back and kissed her, strong and long. Sookie could feel how he sucked her tongue and he did not let it go until she was almost out of breath. He should have not done that - holding her hands behind her back because this time, she wanted it too.

"In your dream, why did you choose her?" she asked between breaths.

"I don't remember anymore, but if it had been a reality, it would have been the more appropriate choice, don't you think? She had been with me for more than sixty years and you have been less than a year if not a month." His face was closer. "And she was my wife,"

"And I am your mistress?"

"No. You are my lover, as Aude was mine." Now he was kissing her upper lip, but he did not hold her hands anymore. He must have sense it that she had welcomed his kisses. "Mistress for me is only for sex, and I have a lot of it. You are somebody I can trust, somebody I want to spend my last night with. You are my lover." He touched her nose with his. "Don't you realize that I chose you over Aude? I could have been there in Leclreq, spending my last night with her. You knew that the spell might have failed and I could have died; yet, I had been with you, instead of her. The last face that I would have seen would have been yours, and not hers."

Suddenly Eric closed his eyes. Something red flew down from his eyes. "I do not see her grave yet," he said, opening his eyes. "I am not able to…"

Sookie wiped off those tears. How stupid she could be…she kissed his cheek. How stupid…

That had been Eric's answer to James when he had asked him if he loved her or not. He had chosen her over Aude in his most important night; he might have not said that he loved her, but his action was louder than his words; and his actions told her that he loved her.

"You should go there one day." Sookie said. "I buried her behind the house, side by side with Francesco. I put two angel statues for them and decorated their graves with ivy and doves. I think she would like it."

"Thank you," he said. "You are a loyal friend to her."

Sookie touched his long blond hair. If only Eric could show his feelings more often like this…if only she could tell what he thought only by looking at him, the way she could reckon what was inside Alcide's mind…

"How many men did you have when I was not around?"

"What?" Sookie was bluffed by the sudden question. She thought that Eric would continue crying and telling her what's inside his mind, but it seemed, they were the only things that were on his mind at the moment; her and sex.

"How many?"

"And how many women did you have in the last three weeks?"

"I have not slept with any woman for fifteen years and three weeks," Eric started kissing her neck. His fangs touched it like sharp razors, but he was careful enough not to injure her skin. "And it's all because of you."

The fifteen years part, Sookie would believe, but not the three weeks part. Exactly that part, she wanted to know because that black gown belonged to a woman; and she wanted to have a straight answer from him, otherwise Eric could forget the idea of starting a relationship with her. Before she could open her mouth, Eric had lifted her and like a flash, he took her out of the bathroom. The next thing she knew, they were on Pam's bed and a pink towel was flying through the air followed by her skirt and bra.

"Oh, I can come back later," suddenly Pam's voice was heard.

Sookie tried to cover her nakedness by grabbing anything around her and the only thing she could find was a pink heart-shape pillow. Eric growled. His eyes were flickering dangerously. She believed that if it had not been Pam, that person would have died by now.

"What is it?" he asked, sounded pissed.

"Chow is here. There's something you should know."

**********


	10. Chow's News

Nine

**Chow's News**

Dressed up in Pam's soft green bathrobe and slippers, drinking her tea and sitting in her living room did not lessen Sookie's anger toward Pam

For fifteen years Pam had known about Eric and yet not a single word had ever come out from her mouth. Was that the reason she had looked distraught most of the time? Was that also the reason she had tried very hard to be in her life, so that she could watch over her, just in case one day, when her master awoke, she could 'report' to him?

Fifteen years were not a short time which somebody could say 'maybe next time' or 'I'll wait for the right time' to hide such a fact. What had she promised Godric or Eric to do such a thing? Had they 'command' her like masters commanded their slaves?

Eric sat between her and Pam, but his eyes were fixed on Chow, who was dirty and bloody. His grey suits, as well as his face, were covered with mud and blood. It was not his blood, he said. It was the blood of the headless man.

Was Eric feeling the anger she was having that he decided to sit between them or was it his way to tell her that they had more important matter and they – she especially, had to focus on that matter.

Sookie took a deep breath (three of them turned to her and gave her a look which made her skin crawl as she was doing it. As if the sound of her breath suddenly reminded them that there was 'food' around them. Sookie made a mental note not to do it again in the future.), and forced herself to see what Chow had brought.

On the table there were a shotgun, four bullets – one of them was covered with white and red stuff, two casings, a blue lumberjack shirt, a wallet and a piece of paper with a red hand print on it. Chow had brought them with him.

"I buried the body, Boss." Chow said. "And Hervaux' car too."

Alcide would not like to hear that.

Eric took the wallet and opened it. "Mr. John Smith," Eric said. He pushed away the wallet." Very imaginative,"

Chow gave him the red hand print. "That's why I took his fingerprints."

Eric smirked. "Good job, Chow."

Chow nodded.

"That's a hunter's gun," Sookie said, pointing at the gun. "Jason has one of those,"

"Then Jason must know where to get this gun," Eric said.

"They were hunting wolves. Interesting," Pam said, smirking. "The one who sent those men must know who Alcide really is."

"We have to tell Alcide about it," Sookie said. "If they aimed especially at him, it means he has enemy of his own."

"Not tonight," Eric looked at Sookie. "Tonight, there's another matter to deal with. I have to inform Her Majesty that I can't come tonight."

"I'll deal with it," said Pam.

"While you're at it; tell her that I am very grateful with the perfume,"

"How does she know about your perfume?" Suddenly Sookie regretted asking that question. She sounded like a jealous teenager and she hated it.

"I've known her for centuries," Eric said, lifting his eyebrow. "And no, I don't sleep with her. It's bad for politics. Why do you ask?"

Sookie felt her cheek hot. Was Eric always this direct? "It smelt like Bon Temps woods," she said.

"I like Bon Temps woods," said Eric. "I met François Coty in French...hmh let me see...it must have been before 1910... and I told him about Bon Temps. I asked him if he could make a perfume that reminded me of the woods and he made it for me."

"François Coty?"

"The perfume maker," said Pam. "By the way, Young Lady. You have a very fine nose."

_Young Lady? _Sookie looked at Pam in awe. It's very weird to be called 'young lady' by somebody who looked younger than her.

Chow cleared up his throat. Obviously, he had been trying to catch Eric's or Pam's attention, but did not succeed.

"Yes?"

"I smelt a person in the woods," Chow said. "He was standing on the place where I found the casings. But I did not catch him, Boss." He sounded ashamed. "I don't trust myself for going inside the woods alone,"

"Proceed," Eric continued, putting his hands against each other. Sookie noticed that Eric was a bit tense.

"Not so far from the car, I found footprints, but I didn't catch any smell."

"Human's?" Eric asked. His voice was deeper.

"Yes, Boss. It looked like human's."

Sookie felt shiver run down her spines. Somebody had been there and heard everything they had said, included when Eric called James 'my son'. Somebody out there knew that James was Eric's son.

Eric looked at her. He sensed her fear. "Thank you, Chow. That would be all."

Chow nodded and wanted to leave when Pam said: "Use my room, Chow. James is sleeping in yours,"

Chow lifted his hand as if he wanted to say 'no problem'.

Pam got up, "I will inform the queen, and then…."

Sookie did not hear the rest of the sentence. Pam's voice was trailing away swallowed by her own thoughts. What would happen now that somebody knew James' identity? Who could it be? Was he the same person who shot that man? If yes, did he work alone, or did he work for someone else? If he worked alone, what would he do with the information? He would not keep it for himself; that Sookie was certain of. Would he sell it to the highest bidder? If he worked for somebody else or worse, for an institution…what would happen to James?

Sookie's hands were trembling. As if the cup in her hand became too heavy to hold, it slipped and fell, but before the cup reached the floor, a hand caught it and put it on the table. Eric was kneeling in front of her. Softly he held her hands.

"I am afraid, Eric." Sookie said. "Something bad might happen to him,"

Eric took her in his arms. "He's my responsibility," he whispered in her ears. "He's my son."

Sookie held him tight. This was the first time that Sookie heard a certainty in his voice, when he said 'my son'. She looked up to him to find a pair of cold blue eyes looking at her. There was no smirking or smile on those eyes; in fact, Eric's whole gesture for the moment was like Jason's gesture on the football field, alert and ready. His body was tensed and Sookie could feel how hard his arms became. She felt as if she was inside a stronghold, which protected her from any harm.

"It will be a hard day tomorrow," he said. "The Court of Queen Sophie-Anne Leclreq is not an easy place to be."

"And exactly that place is where our son will be," she said. "He is too young to be in a place full of vampires. It will scare him." Sookie continued in her heart. _He's even afraid of you._

"It's not as bad as it sounds," he said. "You are one of her lawyers; she will protect you and your son…"

"Our son," Sookie cut him.

"Yes, but as far as her concern, James is your son and not mine. For his sake, I can only hope it will stay like that until James is ready and able to defend himself."

The feeling of security was gone as fast as it came. Sookie was trembling.

"Ssst," Eric held her tighter. "I will not leave him alone, I promise you. Pam will be there too and she can help me keeping an eye on him."

"What will happen to him if they know?"

Eric's hands on her shoulder suddenly became hard. His fingernails were bored into her flesh like knives.

He was worried, as worried as she was. He simply did not say it. "Let's keep it between us that we knew a stranger had known about James, but we must tell James. He has the right to know."

Sookie removed herself from Eric. She heard that sentence before. Godric had said it when he gave her the key. _He has the rights to know. _Sookie did not know if Godric meant James or Eric, when he said 'he'. _He has the rights…_What about her rights as a mother? Her rights to protect her son, to keep him away from any danger?

Eric stood there, looking at her with a light in his eyes that Sookie had never seen before. He was worried. "Trust me, Sookie," he said. His voice was deep. Clearly, he was trying to suppress his own feelings. "It would be better for James if he knows what he is facing in the future. Eventually, people will know him as my son, whether as my flesh and blood, or as your son only. They will look at our togetherness and they will connect him to me. Whether you like it or not."

"People? Since when you care about what people say or think?"

"Not your people. My people."

The vampires.

"That will be another reason not to take him there,"

"I know. I should have said no," his voice was lower. "There is no other choice now, but to go on with our planning, unless…" his eyes were flickering. He sounded reluctant when he said: "You changed your mind about helping Alcide."

"I…I can't do that," Sookie bit her own lips. She owned Alcide her life, without his and Simon's help, Carter would have killed her or turned her into werewolf. Now, Simon's family was in danger…God, what's she supposed to do?

"I admire you, Stackhouse," Eric said, smirking. "You are a loyal friend, indeed. Your son will understand your decision, if he is truly a Northman."

Why these big words of honour, loyalty and admiration were not able to calm her down? Why were her hands shaking because of fear of what might happen to her son?

Eric came to her and lifted her. "It's almost dawn; I can feel it in my body. Let's go to sleep, I can't stay awake any longer."

Eric lay her down on his bed, and covered her with an ivory linen blanket. He kissed her passionately before he said 'goodnight'. Sookie wrapped her arms around his neck so and asked him to stay a little bit longer, but he must leave the room and he did it with a promise to wake up as early as possible.

There must have been a basement or dungeon somewhere in the house, where his coffin was. Sookie would give anything so that Eric was able to sleep beside her, snuggled her and whispered the words that she suddenly missed so much, "Sleep, my lover. Sleep."

*****

Sookie woke up late in the afternoon. The house was strangely quiet. She heard James somewhere in his room talking to himself, or more likely talking in his head, about what he would see at the palace.

She dragged herself to the kitchen and looked for coffee. The noises that she had made, made James opened the door. He still wore Chow's red t-shirt, but it looked like he had taken a shower or a bath.

"The coffee is in the left cabinet, Mom." He said.

How did he know? Ah, probably Pam had told him that. Sookie opened the cabinet and made her the strongest coffee she ever had. She did not even bother to put any sugar or milk.

Soon, James told her 'how cool' it had been to fly with Eric, to feel the wind and being so high, he thought he could touch the leaves or even the stars when they had flown over the woods. "Did Papa ever take you fly, Mom?"

"No," Well…from the library to the bed, or from the bathroom to the bed was not exactly what Sookie could call 'fly'.

"What about…his wife?"

"Her name was Aude, James," Sookie sipped her coffee. "Yes, I believed I saw them once, flying above the woods."

"You loved her too, didn't you?"

Sookie smiled. "Yes. Had you known her, you would have loved her too. She was like a firecracker. Her spirit was contagious. She could make you feel…" Sookie searched for the word. "…alive and enthusiastic every time you were near her. A Little Devil, as your Papa called her."

James looked uncomfortable. "And what does he call you? Angel?"

Sookie laughed. "No." that would be too much for her taste. "He calls me 'Stackhouse'."

"That's a weird way to call a girlfriend," his face was red.

"Indeed," Sookie agreed. He called Aude also "Dubois" from time to time, or "Lover", as he called her also from time to time.

"So…you two have …made-up?" James asked.

"Yes, we did." Sookie said. "It's okay with you?"

James looked at her and shrugged. "Supposed," he murmured.

"You don't sound so happy," Sookie said.

James played with his fingers.

"I always thought you wanted to have some kind of a father figure at home," Sookie said.

"I did."

"Don't you want it anymore?"

"I do," James looked at her. "It's just…it's weird that my father is a vampire. I mean 'my real dad' is a vampire." He scratched his head. "And my grandfather and I look as if we were at the same age. It's just weird."

"Your grandfather?"

"Godric," James said. "He is somehow my grandfather, isn't he?"

"He's your father's maker. He is not 'his real dad'," Sookie used the same tune as James; gave a quote sign and shook her head a little bit.

"That sounds worse," James said. "It sounds as if he was a god or something,"

For Eric, Godric was definitely a god.

"Or Geppetto." James grinned.

Sookie laughed. If Godric was Geppetto and Eric was Pinocchio, she wondered how long Eric's nose would be.

"It's good to hear you laughing, Mom." James said. "It's been ages since you've laughed." He opened one of the cabinets and took out a package of cornflakes. "I suppose, Papa can stay with you as long as you want him to."

"Thank you, James." Sookie said, and promised herself to laugh more often in the future.

Shortly after the sundown, Eric came up. He took a bottle of True Blood and drank it in one go. The 'new' True Blood bottle seemed contained less volume than the 'old' one. At least it looked smaller than the ones Sookie saw at Northman Mansion. Eric needed more time to drink the Northman Mansion True Blood than this one. Normally, he would drink two or three times before he could finish it.

Eric asked her bluntly if she wanted to join him taking a shower, which caused James to roll his eyes with such a red face that Sookie was afraid his face might have exploded. When she said no (which she regretted very much), Eric gave her a long kiss that if James had not said "Mom, Pap!" she would have changed her mind.

"You don't know what you miss," Eric smirked.

After taking a shower, dressed up in dark grey suit with black shirt, Eric asked James to sit down. "We have to talk," he said.

James sat in front of Eric with stern look, so stern that Sookie had a feeling; James had already known what Eric wanted to say. But it's nonsense. Nobody could read vampires' mind, do they?

"We are going to go the Court of Queen Sophie-Anne," Eric said. "It is a beautiful place, but also a dangerous place. At that place, you will meet some vampires who are old and powerful. Not all of them agreed with the decision of revealing ourselves to the world and some of them still want to hide themselves from the human and continue doing the old way."

"I know, Godric told me."

"Then you must know too that you are a young blood for us." When Eric said the word 'us', James drew himself away from Eric.

"I am a vampire, my son." Eric said. "I will not lie to you by saying that I am not tempted to drink young blood from time to time," then he smiled. "But I haven't done it for a long time already. I have learned how to tame that desire to drink young blood."

"You've just called me 'my son'." James said. "Did you call me also 'my son' last night?"

"I did."

James smiled. "Then I was not dreaming,"

"No, you weren't," Sookie touched his shoulder.

"Does it mean I can call you "Papa" any time I want it, even in front of everybody?"

Eric's eyes were narrowing. "That would become a problem," he said. "I don't think the time is right yet to introduce you as my son,"

"Why?"

"As far as the people know, you are a son of a vampire. I was a human when I made love to your mother," Sookie felt her heart beat faster as she heard Eric used the word 'made love'. She could see also how James' face became brighter. He said 'made love', instead of 'having a sex' and Sookie thanked him for acknowledging the feeling. Eric did have his ways with words. "But they didn't know that fact. I believe, some people are not willing to know that fact. You would be neither human nor vampire in their eyes,"

"Then what am I?" James looked at Eric and then Sookie. "I am a human, aren't I?"

"You are, Sweetheart." Sookie kissed his head. "You are."

"But I drank your blood last night; will I be turned into a vampire?"

"No," Eric said. "Your mother drank my blood, too," he was smirking as he said that. He must have remembered the first time he had tricked her into drinking his blood. "You see that she is not a vampire,"

James nodded.

"But there is something that I want you to do," Eric said.

"Sure. Anything, Papa,"

"Somebody was around us as I was giving you my blood. He or she knew that you are my son."

"Who?" James' eyes were wide open.

"We don't know yet. Until we do, I want you to be as careful as possible. Do not give any sign that you knew about it."

"Yes, Papa,"

Slowly Eric got up. "You are my son. You will know what to do and you will survive."

**********


	11. At the Court of Queen SophieAnne

**Author's Note: Le néon is a song from Adamo. Since Sophie-Anne was from French, I take this chance to give a shout to Salvatore Adamo, one of my favorite French-language singers. It's a beautiful song, I can only recommend it.**

**A big kiss for Net.  
**

Ten

**At the Court of Queen Sophie-Anne**

Sookie found herself out of place. Obviously, James thought the same way, too. He stood besides her looking as nervous as she was, if not more.

They were standing in front of a white house. From the house style, Sookie could tell that it had been built around 19th century. It had typical styles of plantation houses. The house had two floors with verandas were built to surround the main body. The second floor's veranda no longer had a function of veranda, but more as balconies. Each floor was connected by long half-round pillars, which did not only looked beautiful but also served their function as the construction's strong supporters. Like many other plantation houses, the palace of LeClreq was divided into three parts. The part in the middle, which was the main part of the house, looked like a guard tower of ancient castle. It was square and on its top was fences made of baton. The side parts had half round shapes and also had baton fences on the top of them. The roof, which always fascinated Sookie, was not so high and almost flat; and the parts under those roofs were the most beautiful parts in Sookie's eyes because on those parts there were many little ornaments like relief of flowers or small faces – mostly women; or sometimes some kind of warriors with helmets. This house was the same. It had flowers and women's faces ornaments.

It was not the house, however, that made her feel insecure, but it was her clothing. She was wearing one of Pam's outfit; a very tight black leather….Sookie looked at herself; she did not know how to call this outfits. It was a gown, all right, but much too short, and much too tight and was more like a corset than a gown, to be honest. To cover her shoulder, she borrowed one of Pam's most harmless necklaces: a golden knot necklace with a fire topaz stone as the eye-catcher. The worst part of the outfits was gladiator's sandals that Pam called shoes. They were uncomfortable and made her legs looked big and stomping. The only advantage of those monstrous shoes was that now she was at Eric's ears height. Therefore, she did not have to crane her neck too much when they were talking.

James wore his own jeans and one of Eric's shirts. He had his own shirts, but he wanted to wear one of Eric's shirts. It looked good, he said. Eric had given him a dark blue linen shirt. "Keep it," Eric said. "It looks good on you," The shirt was too big and too long for him; he had to roll the sleeves. Yet, he wore it proudly, until now.

Sookie wanted to wear her own cloth, actually. A pair of suits, the best that she had because she thought the meeting with the Queen would be some kind of business meeting. However, Eric insisted on her wearing one of Pam's outfits because he believed The Queen would like it. She had 'a thing' for Pam's taste. Besides, "You look fine," Eric said, before they left the house. "Trust me,"

Easy for him to say, he had his own cloth and he looked smart and dazzling as usual.

Eric had spoken the same words when he grabbed their hips and flew with them to LeClreq Wellness Centre. "Trust me," and wuss, they flew to LeClreq Wellness Centre. Sookie did not see anything at all because she had closed her eyes the whole time. The cold wind on her feet had been too much for her stomach, let alone to see what was beneath her feet. She did not want to throw up and ruin her make-up, so the best thing was to close her eyes and pray that they landed as quickly as possible.

From there they had flown with helicopter to the Palace. Chow was using the car now to take care of the business and to continue looking for evidence. Pam had been at the Palace, waiting for them.

James' face was getting paler as they entered the Palace. Thank God, most of the people Sookie had seen in this place were pale. Therefore, he did not look out of place. On the other hand, her no-so-dark skin looked like she had been tanned.

"Be keen," whispered Eric. "Use your telepathic ability to differ between the vampires and the others."

"The others?"

"There are other beings in this place and some of them can be very nasty if they are disturbed."

"You scared me, Eric!"

Eric smirked. "Did I?"

The palace was not as big as Sookie thought it would be. Like any other plantation houses, it had high walls and doors. Compared to Eric, the doors were around half-taller than him. If Eric was 6'4" then the doors were around nine or ten feet. Above the door there were still vast space, Sookie would say, the walls were around 16 feet. She did not know why the Queen needed windows, but there were a lot of windows and they were not small either.

Sookie cursed herself. She should stop thinking or checking around the architecture style of the building and let alone started calculating the value of the house.

A man came to Eric and asked him to follow him.

_Eric Northman is here. _That man thought. _It will be a big night. I'd better tell the others to leave the house, whilst they are still able._

Sookie looked at Eric. What was he, a kind of troublemaker?

Eric seemed not to notice. He walked with his head a little bit raised and did not say a word. James, on the other side, was nervous. Sookie even suspected that he was not only nervous, but also afraid. He grabbed her hand as they walked. His hand was shaking and wet.

_This place is creepy, _he thought. _I don't like it. I hope we can get away from here as soon as possible._

Creepy? The Palace was painted white, looked too clean for Sookie due to the lack of furniture and decoration, but the rest was okay. The old lamps that were hanging here and there were possibly not James' taste, but she could not call them 'creepy'.

The man led them to a door, which was guarded by two big men, almost as tall as Eric was, but as big as Chow. They opened the door.

The sound of door was heavy and old; and an air of mixed perfumes welcomed them.

"Watch the stairs," Eric said. "Welcome to Queen Sophie-Anne's Court."

Sookie had to adjust her eyes for a moment before she could see where to go or what to see. The room in front of her was dark. There were some lamps on the wall, but their lights were too dim for her eyes to see. Strangely, James did not have problems at all. He walked as if he could see the things clearly.

The Court of Queen Sophie-Anne, not known by many, was located under the house. The above part was used as some kind of tourist attraction for those who wanted to see "The Palace of A Vampire Queen." Its opening hours, like the other historical house museums - Magnolia Mound Plantation House and Old Governor's House, were 10:00 am until 02:00 pm. After that, the Palace was closed and heavily guarded.

From what Sookie heard, the Palace attracted more visitors than the other museums. No wonder, vampires were 'new objects' to behold and to get to know. A new trend and people were always curious about something new, whatever it would be.

A song was played from somewhere in the front of them, a very lively French song. Sookie could also hear loud conversations and laughter.

"Ah, Le néon," Eric said. "We're lucky. The Queen is in a good mood."

In the middle of the room, a young girl was dancing to a woman. Sookie had not seen the Queen for a long time and forgotten how young she looked. If the other vampires or human who were in the room did not look at the young girl with mixture gestures of fear and respect, she would have not realized that the girl was the queen and not the woman.

"That's Pam," James said, pointing at the woman who was dancing with the Queen. "And that's the Queen? She looks like one of my classmates,"

Sookie looked at James and hoped that was not true, she hoped that none of his classmate looked like the Queen because not only she wore too much make-up for 'her age'; she also was wearing cloth with lace and frill as if she wanted to join Mardi Gras.

"Ah, Erric," The Queen said when the dance was finished. Sookie did not know how The Queen could recognize Eric among the crowd. It must have been his perfume or maybe his height.

Eric came approaching her, bowed a little, took her hand and kissed it. "Your Majesty," he said.

The people in the room were moving away from Eric and the Queen, giving them more space. Pam bowed to the Queen and came to Sookie and James.

"You look….dazzling," Pam said as she saw Sookie. "Don't tell me, it's Eric's idea."

Sookie nodded.

"I see that he comes with a big gun," Pam said.

"What do you mean?"

Pam smiled. "Your outfit, my dear, draw many people's attention. You should wear this kind of clothes more often."

Sookie looked around. What Pam said was correct. She could see many eyes were watching her, whether they were vampires or human…well, what was the difference? They were all looking at her. From some thoughts that she could listen to, most of them blaming her for attracting the vampires' attention, as if coming with Eric Northman and a very young boy was not enough, she _had _to dress up to kill. She had definitely a death wish.

A familiar voice filled the room and drew Sookie's attention.

"Welcome, Eric. This song is for you and your friend, Francesco." Bill Compton was standing beside the piano and wearing tuxedo. He looked smart. "Gira Con Me Questa Notte from Josh Groban. I hope your Italian is not rusty now, I know mine is."

The room filled with the sound of chuckling.

Eric nodded a little to acknowledge him, smiling.

The piano player hit the tune and his deep voice softly followed the melody.

Eric bowed in front of the Queen and they danced together.

Sookie watched how they were taking steps elegantly, sweeping the floor like two butterflies dancing on the air. The Queen gazed into Eric's eyes like a little girl gazed into a wonder and Eric looked back at her as if there was nobody else in the room. They looked like somebody who was in love with each other. If only Sookie could dance, she would like to be in those arms, right here, right now.

Sookie did not understand what the song meant. Bill's voice sounded as if he was longing to somebody, sad and broken hearted. Was he thinking about somebody as he was singing, or was he a good singer, who could channel his emotion in his voice?

"If he had not said it, I would have assumed that he sang it for you," a man's voice made Sookie turned around. James was not beside her anymore, in fact he was dancing with Pam. Sookie was surprised. She did not know James could dance, not as well as Eric, but still; the fact that he was able to dance was a surprise!

The man was as tall as Sookie was. He wore all black outfits with a golden flower embroider on the collar and sleeves. Sookie could not tell what was the colour of his hair or eyes due to the deemed light, but she knew that she was facing a vampire. His head was empty.

Sookie looked at Bill. That man was right. The song was for Eric, he said, but his eyes were on her.

"Eric Northman on the Court of Queen Sophie-Anne is indeed a rare…occasion," that man continued. "And he always knows how to attract Her Majesty,"

He was not the first one who had said that to Sookie. So, it must be true that he was rarely at the Court of the Queen and when he was, it would be a big night.

"Eric is well-known with his excellent offering," that man smiled, "Bringing such a young blood, knowing that the Queen loves young blood….hmh, tricky."

Sookie's skin crawled listening to the tune of his voice. He sounded as if he was ready to jump on James at any time. She tried to find James by craning her head. Unfortunately, James and Pam were some feet away from her, blocked by some dancing people.

Everybody clapped when the song was over.

"But I would be satisfied if Her Majesty allows me to have dinner with you," he continued.

Sookie saw Eric bowing at Her Majesty and then some moment later, he was already standing beside her. "André," he smirked at that man. "What a pleasure to see you again," his voice sounded cold and threatening.

"Eric, I heard that you have returned from the death," the man whom Eric called André smiled. "What an honour to have you here,"

"I see that you have met my companion," Eric said.

André looked at Sookie. "Yes, unfortunately I haven't recalled her name."

"Sookie, this is André Paul, Her Majesty's…."

"Secretary," André cut Eric. He took Sookie's hand and kissed it. "My pleasure, Ma'am,"

"Sookie Stackhouse," Sookie curtseyed.

"So you are Her Majesty's favourite lawyer," André said, still smiling. "She talked a lot about you,"

_Mom, stay away from him. _Sookie heard James' thought. _He's creepy._

Sookie was surprised to hear how loud and how strong James' thought was. It was as if it had been directed especially at her.

The sound of a little bell chimed across the room.

"Her Majesty Queen Sophie-Anne of Louisiana and His Majesty King Peter of Arkansas will now leave the room and shall the feast begin."

_The feast? What did the announcer mean with the feast? _

Sookie heard 'click' sound from every corner. Instinctively she grabbed Eric's hand and panicked, looking around for James. The people moved around and slowly the room was getting wider. One by one moved away from the centre with their 'partners'. James was nowhere to be found.

"Eric," André looked at Eric. He did not smile anymore. Sookie saw his fangs as he opened his mouth. "Shall we enjoy our dinner?" His eyes were moving slowly and finally settled at her. Strange feeling crawled all over her skin. James was right. This man was creepy _par excellence._

"It's an honour, André," Eric said. His fangs were also out. "But I am an epicure and I prefer to dine alone."

André nodded. His eyes were turning cold and he said, "If you allow me, Sookie," he took her hand and kissed it. "I would take my leave."

Hastily Sookie nodded. The sooner, the better.

André smiled and then left.

"Eric…I don't see James. We have to find him!"

"He's with Pam," Eric said. "Don't worry," he took her in his arms and whispered, "If you do, don't show it. And forgive me for doing this," he lifted the necklace and bore his fangs into her neck.

Sookie gasped. He did not bore deeply, but enough that blood came out of it. Nevertheless, the pain was the same. Sookie held his waist tightly. She felt her whole body was aching. It was not the biting itself that hurt her, but the feeling being treated as food was.

Eric ended his sucking with a kiss on her neck and then on her lips.

Sookie wanted to push him away, slapped him, or cursed him; but she knew, if she did that, she would put both of them – James and herself, in danger. She had to pretend that she came here with freewill; therefore, she had to follow the rule. None of them was true. She did not know what would happen to Eric if she refused to give her blood, and to be honest, she did not want to know.

Eric bit his own wrist and gave it to Sookie. "Just pretend that you are drinking my blood," he whispered.

Sookie closed her mouth tightly and put them beside the open wound on Eric's wrist, but as his blood that came out of it touched her lips, a sweet fresh smell of Bon Temps wood reached her nose. The smell reminded her of Eric's perfume that had been driving her crazy for days.

Like having its own thought, her mouth was open and her tongue licked the blood. Strange, the blood tasted of…Gumbo soup. Gumbo soup? Gran did not like Gumbo soup, she did not like it, either.. She ate Gumbo soup, but it was not exactly her favourite food. Yes, she ate Gumbo soup a lot in the last fifteen years; mostly it was because...Gumbo soup had been Eric's last food.

Sookie was struck by the thoughts. Did Eric's blood really taste like Eric now, or was it just her own imagination?

Sookie heard Eric moaning. She lifted her face and saw him smiling with lust burning on his eyes. She had sucked Eric's blood strongly, too strong that Eric was aroused because of it. Jeez, what had come into her? She drew herself away from Eric's hand and with a hot face she said, "Sorry."

"Don't be," Eric said. "I am not." He kissed her passionately. Sookie could feel his fangs touch her lower lip and the way Eric kissed her was so strong that she swore it bled.

Somebody touched Eric's shoulder and broke their kisses. Eric turned around. A man was standing behind them.

"Her Majesty is expecting you," he said in a thick German accent.

Eric nodded. "Don't look around," he whispered to Sookie. "Just keep your face straight."

At first Sookie did not understand what he meant, until she heard the sound of sucking and moaning. She heard also thoughts of people overlapping each other. Some wanted the things to get over with so she or he could get the money and go home, some were bored with the way their partners treated them and wanted to have other vampires and some among their moaning saying nothing but 'stronger' or 'faster'.

She and James had to go out of this place as soon as possible. She did not know how long she could stand the things that she saw or heard. It was just too much for her.

That man took them to a room away from the ballroom. Sookie could not hear anything anymore as the man closed the door of the ballroom. The hallway, which led them to the room, was dark. The red lights on the wall did not help Sookie seeing anything at all because she saw nothing but Eric's and that man's red faces.

That man opened a door and said, "Eric Northman and his human companion, Her Majesty."

The bright light of the room blinded Sookie. It took her a while to see what's inside. The room was white, with white laces everywhere, in front of the window, in the middle of the room around the bed, even on the couch.

The couch itself was red with golden painted body around it. On the couch was Queen Sophie-Anne. She wore golden ballroom dance heavily detailed with laces and frills. Her make up was thick and made her face looked smooth like a marble statue. Beside her was Pam, sitting and smiling. Her hand was holding James' hand that was standing there with a face as pale as any vampires, if not even paler. Bill Compton was also in the room. He sat at the table on the corner. There was another man in the room, but Sookie did not recognize him.

The door was close and the man who brought them there stood in the middle of it.

_Thank God, Mom! _Thought James, _Where have you been…and what's that on your neck? _James looked at Eric. _Did Papa just bite you?_

"Your Majesty," Sookie curtseyed.

The Queen lifted her face. "Madame Stackhouse…Sookie. What a pleasure."

"The pleasure is mine, Your Majesty,"

"I 'ave met your son," the Queen looked at James. "I knew that 'e would be a fine young man when 'e's grown up, but I never imagined that 'e would be this fine,"

The hair on the back of her neck was standing. The way she said it, as if she was looking at a horse or a cattle, which she wanted to buy or slaughter. "Thank you, Your Majesty," Sookie said.

"Please, do sit down."

Sookie sat down in front of her, whilst Eric was standing behind her.

"I 'eard from Bill, that you need 'elp, but I want to 'ear it from you."

Sookie told the Queen what she had known right from the beginning and what she thought about the shooting that had happened to them, but carefully she skipped the part where James had drunk Eric's blood also the fact that somebody was there when Eric had called James 'my son'.

"C'est difficile," the Queen said when Sookie finished. "We may not interfere on others' business. I would not say that I cannot 'elp. There are rules among us that 'ave to be obeyed." Then she smiled. "But it doesn't mean that it can't be done."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Sookie said. She knew she was supposed to feel relieved, but somehow she was not. Sookie could not put her fingers on it, but there was something in those icy brown eyes of the Queen that she did not like.

"It's late," The queen said. "We talk again over breakfast tomorrow,"

"Breakfast, Your Majesty?"

"Oui. You do 'ave breakfast, don't you?"

"Yes, but…"

"And I also 'appen to believe that Monsieur James would like to 'ave breakfast."

James who looked as confused as Sookie nodded.

The Queen lifted her finger and it was understood by everybody in the room as a sign that the conversation was over. Sookie was sitting there on her chair not sure what to do. Eric touched her shoulder softly and helped her get up.

"Sookie," suddenly the Queen said. "I do not wish to inquire, but I would like to ask."

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Where will you sleep tonight?"

Sookie looked at Eric. Yeah, where would she sleep tonight if the Queen wanted to have breakfast with them? And when was the time for 'breakfast' in the eye of a vampire? Six or seven p.m perhaps?

"I see," the Queen said. "Pam, you know where your master's bedroom is."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Monsieur James would like to stay awhile with us, per'aps?" Her icy brown eyes were looking at James.

To Sookie's surprise, despite his pale face, James answered firmly. "It's an honour, Your Majesty. But perhaps, some other time,"

Her eyes blinked. There was no smile or sign of disappointment on that smooth face. "Per'aps." Then she continued, "What about you, M. Con'tong?"

Sookie looked around the room to know whom the Queen meant with M. Con'tong, when she heard Bill's voice. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

As they were leaving the Queen's chamber, they met three men in the hallway. Eric and Pam bowed a little to the man in the middle, whilst Sookie could only smile. Later on the room, Eric said that the man was King Peter of Arkansas.

Eric's bedroom was on the second floor and consisted of two rooms. One was some kind of parlour with a set of chair and the other room was the bedroom. Eric explained that the second floor was built especially for vampires so that they could sleep in the night and woke up in the morning. There was no window or any other airways. A special machine worked twenty-four hours a day to keep the air in the rooms fresh. The floor was strictly confidential and forbidden for any human visitors and it was heavily guarded.

As soon as they were alone in the room, Sookie grabbed James and checked his body to find any marks of biting. "Mom!" James protested. "I can take care of myself! Besides, Pam was always with me," Still, in this kind of environment, man could not be too careful.

James stormed out of the room to go to the next room. "I am not a child anymore!"

"Yeah, but you are my child!"

"You are totally lame with that excuse, Mom!" James yelled out. "It's so 50s!"

"What do you know about 50s, anyway?!"

"Aaargh!!!" Bum! James slammed the door.

"You should have trusted me," Eric said. "Or Pam,"

Sookie sat down and opened the shoes. "I wanted to make sure that everything was okay,"

Eric sat beside her and put her feet on his laps. "Young blood like James will attract many vampires. The room would have not been as quiet as it was, if James had gotten bitten." Softly he pressed Sookies' feet. "And he is right; he is not a child anymore. He is a young man."

"Stop that," Sookie said, but then continued as Eric stopped giving her massage. "No, not the massage. Stop calling James 'young blood'. It's creepy." Sookie sighed. "But you're right. He's not a child anymore."

His hands were now on her legs.

Sookie sighed. Oh, that's good! She could feel her blood running faster and her legs feel lighter. After a while, he stopped. Then 'click', his fangs were out and he said, "Come to me,"

Sookie did what Eric said. She lifted her gown so she could sit comfortably on Eric's laps. "You said the same thing in my dream," she said, kissing him. "Over and over again,"

"But you did not come," Eric said, answering her kisses.

"How do you know?"

His hands were on her ass, squeezing them tight. "Otherwise you would have not been still angry when you came to the house,"

"How can you be so sure?"

Eric kissed her and with one movement, she was already lying on the couch with Eric on top of her. "Because I would be able to please you in your dream the way I pleased you in reality and you would ask for more. You would not have the time to be angry with me."

"But I was angry with you. I won't be able to have a sex with you when I am angry, not even in dreams."

"I can, in dreams or in reality."

"Oh, I bet you can, but I can't."

"Are you sure?" he removed the necklace and kissed her neck. His fangs touched her wound, but he did not lick or suck it. Suddenly he stopped and said, "Yes, James?"

Sookie got up and asked Eric to do the same. Hastily she fixed her gown. It's somehow embarrassing to be caught by her own son meanwhile making-out with a man; even when the man was the father of her son.

James was standing beside the door. He looked nervous. "There's somebody in the closet," he said.

Eric sprung on his feet and in a blink of an eye, he was already gone.

**************


	12. A HalfLife

Ten

**A Half-Life  
**

"Sookie, you'd better come here,"

Eric called her after a long time of waiting.

Sookie and James were in the living room, sitting beside each other without uttering any words.

It was not a good decision to come to the Palace of LeClreq after all. James thought in his head repeatedly. He should have not been too curious; he should have stayed at home with Alcide. Okay, it was not that thrilling, compared to what was happening now, but playing football was also fun.

Reluctantly Sookie went inside the room.

A man was sitting on the floor in front of the closet, shaking and murmuring. He hit his head against the closet repeatedly. "I…I…go….must…." bum, bum, bum…. "must…must…."

"Who is he?" asked Sookie.

"A curse, a half-life," Eric sounded disgusted.

"What? Half human, half vampire?" Sookie looked at Eric. Was there such a thing? If a vampire bit somebody, then that person would become a vampire. Wouldn't he?

"No, he is not human anymore,"

"Just going to say that…" Sookie said it to herself.

"He's a vampire," Eric looked at him in disgust. "But he's not entirely vampire." Then, he knelt down, and lifted the man's shirt. Black hair covered his chest, but not like normal human hair, his hair was long and rough looking.

Sookie came nearer. "Is that…."

The man's eyes get wider and ..roaar…he jumped on her; but before he was able to move any further Eric's foot had stopped him. Brakk….he was thrown back, hit the closet and lay on his back with Eric's foot on his chest.

Sookie stood with mouth open and felt numb. She could only watch how wide Eric had opened his mouth and threatened the man not to move. His fangs were bared out and his eyes were flashing dangerously.

"Mom!" James ran inside and shook her. "Mom…"

"She's all right, James." Eric said. Then, he said something in Old Norse to James.

James ran outside, a minute later, he came back, closed the door and stood in front of it with an iron stick in his hand.

Slowly Sookie's senses returned to her. This was not the first time she had been attacked by a werewolf and possibly was not going to be the last time. A werewolf? That man was a werewolf? But Eric said…she looked at Eric. "Werewolf?! He was a werewolf?!"

"He's still is," Eric said. "He's also a vampire, a half-life!"

Sookie believed that if Eric had saliva, he would have spat on the floor right now. His voice was so full of disgust, that Sookie could almost touch it.

"Can you read his mind?"

Sookie looked at that man. He was still on the floor. The madness she had just witnessed had disappeared from his face. He looked confused, but his head was empty. "No," She said. "He's a vampire; I can't read vampires' minds."

"You can read minds, Mom?" James looked at her. Strangely, he did not look surprise. Had Pam told him, Sookie wondered.

"Yes, but not vampires'."

"Can you read mine?" James asked.

"Yes,"

"Did you do it sometimes?"

"James, I think it's not the right time to ask me that question," Sookie said, feeling guilty that she had done it from time to time.

"Mom?!"

Before Sookie was able to answer James' question, that man's voice drew everybody's attention to him.

"Herveaux' cub…" he said, rubbing Eric's foot with his hands. Then he pointed at James, "Herveaux' cub…"

Eric lifted his foot.

That man crawled to James and hugged his foot. "Herveaux' cub…"

"Mom…Pap…" James looked at Sookie and then at Eric. "What's going on…"

"He…help…"

Eric's chamber at the Palace of LeClreq became quiet. Nobody made any noise, except that man, who among his murmuring and stuttering had called himself 'Tom'. He was sitting on the floor, hugging his knees and murmuring words nobody understood. Eric leaned his back on the wall, glaring at him without blinking. James also leaned his back on the wall, crossing his arms in front his chest, staring at his shoes. Sookie was sitting on the bed, not knowing what to do. She was more and more eager to go out of the palace. The longer they stayed there, the more dangerous for James it would Tom was able to recognize Alcide's scent on James' body, so was anybody else. But how to leave the heavily guarded palace unnoticed?

Sookie realized now, Alcide and Sam had not only played football with James, but they also wanted anybody to know that James was under their protection. That was the reason they had made body contact as often as possible so they were able to leave their traces on James' body, and that was the reason Eric did not like it. He had smelt the scents and he knew what it meant. What happened if they have mistaken James as Alcide's son?

Sookie looked at James. His eyes moved rapidly and from time to time he looked at Tom as if he was thinking hard what to do with him. She wanted to look inside his head, to listen only for a moment, but now that he had known about her ability, she felt like betraying him.

Suddenly James straightened his body and approached Tom. Like striking a dog, he touched Tom's head. "How did you find me, Tom?"

Sookie got down from the bed and walked to him, but Eric stopped her by reaching out his hand.

Tom sniffed the air like a dog. "I…I…followed you…you marked your territory…" he laughed… "…like a Herveaux…"

"How did you enter the room?"

He looked around and whispered, "I made one of the human do it…" he looked at Eric. "The Queen's Lieutenant…stays at the same room every time he came…"

The Queen's Lieutenant? Was that what Eric was? And what did it mean that he was her Lieutenant? Sookie looked at Eric who was watching every move that Tom made. Sookie could see his fangs were out and his hands were in claw-form. Eric was in a high alert and ready to attack at any time. It was dangerous to bother him, unless she wanted to get to know the real power of his fangs and claws.

"You know Alcide Herveaux, Tom?" James asked.

Tom nodded his head repeatedly. "Herveaux…" he touched James' hand and then he looked right and left. His eyes were like those of a mad man's. They flickered in madness. "They came to me only in the night…They told me…sstt…there are many ears in this place….you have to be careful…" he moved his head and opened his mouth very fast towards James neck, but some inches before he touched James' neck, he stopped. Nevertheless, it made Sookie gasped and Eric's hand was on Tom's shoulder. "Herveaux' cub…." He touched James' hair. His fingers looked bony and scrawny. The fingernails were long and black. Like his chest, they had also rough looking long hair. "They told me…they….mix two blood together…." His voice was lower. "Beware…beware of the food they serve…" he looked around. "Beware…" then he crawled around and howled like a wolf. "…fresh is better….fresh is better…beware…." And he laughed…his fangs were out. His eyes were madly aiming at James…and before anybody could do anything, he jumped on him. James fell onto the floor and Tom was on top of him. "Help…" he said and then he dove into his neck, but exactly at the time he was moving his head, Eric grabbed his legs and with one swing he smashed him against the wall. Brakk! Tom fell onto the floor, but soon he was on his feet again, baring his fangs against Eric.

"Sookie, take James out of the room," Eric said. His voice deep and growling. Slowly he bent his arms.

Without waiting for another word, Sookie helped James on his feet again and took him out of the room.

"What…what is he going to do?" James asked, all shook up.

"I don't know," Sookie said and to be honest, it was better that way. She closed the door and took him to the couch.

"I…I…didn't know that…he…" James' lips were trembling. "That…he…"

"I know, Sweetie," Sookie held him tight.

"I…I am scared…Mom…"

"Me too, Honey. Me, too,"

James shook harder when a loud scream and growled came out of the room. Sookie held him tighter. Whatever Eric was doing, she did not want to know, and she was glad that neither of them had to witness it.

"Tom…was confused…I…wanted to help him…"

"He was attacking you, James," Sookie said. "Your father will not allow that to happen."

"I know Mom…I just…" suddenly he broke into tears. "I…"

"Ssstt…don't worry, James. Your father will take care of it," _in his way and it isn't going to be pretty._

Sookie did not know how long they have waited, but when the door was open, James' tears had gone through her gown and wetted her stomach. Eric came out of the room with blood all over his body. His eyes were flickering with madness, but his face was as cold as The Queen's was. "Is there blood on my face?" he asked as if nothing had happened.

Sookie was perplexed with the question, but she shook her head.

Eric looked at James who was still holding her and said, "It is done now. Be careful next time,"

James wiped off his tears. "I will, Papa," And released himself from Sookie. He looked shocked when he saw Eric. "You…killed him…?"

Eric sniffed. "I had to."

"He had something that might help Alcide!" James protested. "You can't simply kill him!"

"I can and I did." Eric said. "He was going to harm you. Nobody harms what is mine and gets away with it," then he looked at Sookie dangerously. The flickering lights in his eyes were getting stronger. Sookie realized that he was not only angry, but he was also jealous. "Alcide has claimed your son as his. Now every werewolf will treat him as one, including his enemies,"

Sookie was not sure whether she should be happy or worried to hear that. "I didn't know that," she said, after awhile. "James is your son and Alcide has no right to do that,"

Eric moved his head like a snake; a sign that he was not pleased with her answer. "Talk to him, before I do. He is a loyal worker and I don't want his feelings to you to influence my judgement,"

Eric knew that Alcide had 'feelings' to her and he had been bothered by it. He just had not wanted to admit it, until now.

"I will," Sookie said. It was not wise to tease an angry animal, Gran always said. Eric was not only an animal, he was a beast and he was very angry for the moment. The best way to avoid more problems was by agreeing whatever he said.

Eric sniffed and then he said, "Come to me, my child."

At first, Sookie thought Eric was talking to James and obviously James thought the same thing too because he was getting up from the couch; but then, they heard somebody knocking at the door.

"Enter," Eric said.

The door was open and Pam came in.

His sentence had been for his vampire child, Pam; and like a loyal and obeying child, she came.

Without any sign of shock or surprise, Pam looked at Eric's bloody body and said, "You can use my room."

Eric moved his head as a sign for Sookie and James to follow him.

They went out of the room, following Pam.

"Who was your dinner?" Pam asked in Old Norse. James translated the conversation for Sookie.

"A half-life," Eric said. "And he's not my dinner. I am still hungry,"

Sookie's skin crawled as she heard it because Eric looked at her and smirked. His fangs, which were aiming her neck, were threatening. She held his hand and hoped that it would calm him down a little bit. Eric squeezed her hand and smiled, but he did not retract his fangs.

"What did he do?"

"Laying his filthy hands on James,"

Pam stopped and looked at James. "Are you all right, James?"

James nodded. "I feel sorry for him,"

"Don't be," Pam said. "It's either you or him,"

Sookie hated that kind of dead-or-alive conversation, but she admitted Pam was correct. If that man had harmed James in any way, she would have not a single doubt to kill him, either.

"I know, but still." James looked at Sookie and spoke in English, "He was a poor man,"

Sookie nodded. "I know, Honey."

Pam's room was smaller than Eric's room. And just like her own place, it was dominated by pastel colours. "I will clean up your room," she said, "and inform Her Majesty about it. By the way, Her Majesty expects you around ten in the morning. Don't be late." Then she left.

*****

"Louisiana est moi!"

A loud noise and a lying cup welcomed Sookie as she was entering the Chamber of Queen Sophie-Anne. The cup hit the door's frame and splashed its content to Sookie. It was cold and when she wiped it off with her hand, she realized, it was blood.

Apparently, they did not come on a good time.

"Moi!" Queen Sophie-Anne was standing with her hands on the hip. Her sleeping gown, which was from a transparent material showed her petite figure. Whatever that had happened before their arrival must have influenced her mood greatly. She was no longer the dancing queen from last night, but a very angry teenager. Sookie could see she had torn apart some laces, thrown away cups, bottles, vase and some books at every direction. By the look of it, ship wreckage would look harmless compared to this room.

The man in front of her bowed and whispered something to her.

The Queen turned around and smiled. "Sookie, please do come in,"

In the dim artificial morning light, The Vampire Queen of Louisiana looked fragile. Her face was thick with make-up like last night, but without her heavy lace and frill cloth and jewellery, she looked like any teenager.

Like last night, The Queen was not alone; the men who Sookie had seen last night were her bodyguards - Sigebert and Wybert; Bill Compton and to her surprise, André Paul. There were two human with them, a girl and a boy. Sookie did not know how old they were, but they seemed not much older than James did.

She led them to a table, which was covered with food; bread, muesli, fruit, fried bacon, eggs milk and even a pot of coffee. On the middle of the table were some bottles of True Blood.

"I don't eat any of zhese, but I like watching my 'uman guess 'aving zheir meals,"

James ate the food without any comment. He was starving, he said. Since last night, he had not eaten anything. The Queen was sitting in front of him, watching every move he made like a lion watching a gazette grazing grass on the prairie.

One side, Sookie was relieved that James seemed to forget what happened last night, but on the other side, sitting in a room with vampires who watched them as if they were food, did not give Sookie a comfortable feeling.

The vampires themselves drank True Blood. Eric did not touch his True Blood, saying that he was not accustomed to eat in the morning. Pam drank a little and then followed Eric's example, she did not drink for the rest of the morning.

"We 'eard about zhe incident in your room last night, Erric," The Queen said. "Everything was all right, I 'ope,"

"Yes, thank you for your concern, Your Majesty," said Eric.

"Zhis…Peter…" The Queen stopped her sentence as if she wanted to restrain herself. "…zhe King, 'e thinks it is amazing to bring such companions,"

"It was one of His Majesty's people?"

"Non…but," The Queen shrugged. "Who knows? Bill, what did you know about…zhat man?"

"His name was Rodney, Your Majesty," Bill said. "He used to live in Baton Rouge and became vampire since last year."

"Since when do you have to be registered yourself as a vampire?" Sookie asked.

"One year before the Great Revelation we made a census to know the exact numbers of vampires in USA." André answered. Sookie could clearly see how he looked like. His hair was dark brown and wavy. His eyes were pale grey and he had a big nose. "Since then, we always register our vampires,"

"His maker?"

"Not known," Bill said.

"What makes me wonder, what was he doing in your room…Eric?" André looked at Eric.

"Since when do Her Majesty's Sheriffs have to answer to somebody else, but to Her Majesty?" Eric gave André a cold look.

The Queen waved her fingers as a sign that she did not want to hear any argument. "We 'ave discussed your matter. As you told me, some of zhe werewolves which asked for your protection came from Arkansas," Sookie caught a sound of disgust in her voice. "King Peter zhought it would be inappropriate if we gave zhem 'elp. We must seek for an audience in front of zhe National Vampires Assembly and defend our reason zhere."

Sookie never heard such a thing like National Vampires Assembly. But again, there were many things about vampires that she never heard of.

"The question is," this time it was André who said, "Are you ready for that, Monsieur?"

Eric and André looked at each other. If looks could kill, one of them would be already dead. Both of them had disgusted and icy glares which were directed at each other. After some time, André turned his face away. Eric had won the fight this time.

_Concentrate! _Sookie heard James' told himself. _Pretend that you don't understand!_

"Zhis is a very difficult situation for us," The Queen said. "If you wanted us to 'elp your friend, Sookie, what could zhey probably offer us?"

Sookie looked at The Queen. That face was expressionless. What was going on inside her head, she wondered. What did she want? Alcide would do anything to save his family; Sookie was sure about it, but what was 'anything'? Alcide's family had already faced difficulties among the werewolves for working for Eric; what would happen if they were forced to work for The Queen of Louisiana?

No, she could neither mention his name nor give any promises to The Queen.

"Unfortunately I can't speak on the behalf of any werewolf, Your Majesty," finally she said.

"Zhen we will talk again, if you do,' said The Queen. "Now, Monsieur James, what do you zhink of my Palace?"

After that sentence, The Queen did not lay her eyes on Sookie anymore. Her attention was only for James and soon they engaged in a conversation of the things that happened in James' life, and not a single time where she gave a sign that she aware of the others' presence in her chamber.

Sookie knew, they had come to Baton Rouge for nothing.

***********


	13. New Love

**Author's note: This chapter is for Ari Ado. I hope you read this somewhere and I do love you, still.**

**And **sluggysmom**, I hope it answers some of your questions. **

**The 'lemon cake' was baked and served with the help of dear friend of mine, Vic Vega.  
**

Twelve

**New Love  
**

After the breakfast with The Queen which had taken around three hours, James spent the rest of the day sitting beside a swimming pool with her. Sookie insisted on accompanying him because she did not want anything to happen to him. It sounded a bit pathetic and paranoid, of course, but like what she believed, nobody could be too careful, especially at the Palace of Queen LeClreq. And she appreciated that James did not protest her decision at all. At first, the Queen had not been pleased with it, but she finally agreed after Sookie had told her that James was a minor. His parents had to agree that he spent sometimes with a vampire, otherwise the vampire would be judged with the human law if anything happened to him.

_Slick move, Mom, _James thought. _Slick move._

But soon Sookie found out that it had not been a good move at all because she spent the whole day watching The Queen eyeballing James, as if he was some kind of delicacy. Any kind of movement from The Queen made her heart beating faster. She tried her best to pretend that she calmed down and had no prejudice or whatsoever against The Queen, but both her and The Queen knew, it was only a matter of time before her mask fell off and her fear shone through.

Eric was there too, but most of the time he was dozing. The changing rhythm of 'waking up' in the day and 'sleeping' in the night was obviously not his thing. The dark red circles covered his eyes very fast as if they had a life of their own and he could not move from his chair. If somebody wanted to stake his heart, he would not be able to fight back.

Bill, Pam and other vampires had left. It seemed the additional hours that they had to wake up to have 'breakfast' with The Queen were too much for them. It had drained up their energy very fast and not even bottles of True Blood or 'fresh blood' could help them staying awake.

The Queen herself seemed not to be bothered by it. How could she do it? Were vampires supposed to sleep in the day, really sleeping if not dead, just like what happened to Eric?

Eric had said that the second floor was built especially for vampires so they were able to 'enjoy the day', but still, Sookie thought it was weird to see vampires walked around in the day. It was just creepy. What would happen to human if vampires could walk around in the day? Sookie pushed away that thought. No, that's just impossible.

They left the Palace as soon as the sun set – much to The Queen's disagreement, but both Sookie and Eric insisted to leave. There was no reason anymore to stay.

Eric had bought a new car to replace Alcide's and with that new car they drove back home. Eric looked very tired, but he did not drink any True Blood that The Queen had offered. Obviously he took Rodney's words seriously to beware of the food that The Queen served.

Sookie offered him her blood, but he refused it. She would need her power to drive the car to Bon Temps, he said. He just needed to sleep a little bit more; and he did. He sat in the front seat and fell asleep. His body was stiff as if he was in some kinds of catatonic state. Sookie had never seen him sleeping; she wondered if he slept the same way.

James was very quiet. Mostly he looked outside through the windows. From time to time, he gave her a smile to tell her that he was all right. He did not say a word, but in his head, he said to her, _I need some time to think, Mom._

They arrived at Northman Mansion around eleven o'clock. Alcide welcomed them with his brilliant smile, which was fast gone as soon as he saw the car. "That's not my car," he said.

Eric threw the key at him. "It's your car now."

"What? What happened? Where's my car?"

"Don't ask, Alcide." Sookie said. "I'll tell you tomorrow,"

"I'll go to bed if you don't mind, Mom," James said, closing the door.

Sookie nodded.

James ran inside the house without saying any word anymore.

Sookie decided to go to bed early too. She said good night to everybody and under Alcide's questioning eyes, she walked inside the house.

Sookie was going to open her bedroom's door, when she saw that Aude's room was still open. Should she enter that room, despite what had happened there? No, she still had her pride. Eric had betrayed her by taking a woman there. On the other side, he had never promised her anything. He said that he did not want to sleep with another woman on Aude's bed as long as Aude was still alive. It did not mean that she would be the next woman after Aude's death.

Sookie sighed. She was an adult, a forty-one year old woman, but she had acted like a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl who was angry with her boyfriend because she thought that her boyfriend had cheated on her. Eric had his needs. He had been locked up for fifteen years; he must have been hungry for blood and sex. True Blood would never be enough for him…and sex? Would he be patient enough to wait for her and only for her?

No, she did not think so.

Sookie walked away from her door and went to Aude's room. Nothing she could do to undo what had happened in that room. It had happened. Eric had tried his best to show his feelings toward her or James. He had always been there. His attention to James had been real. She could see how fast he had moved every time James was in danger. At least what she could do was giving him another chance.

Slowly she entered the room.

Nothing had changed. The bed was as messy as when she had seen it a week ago. Nobody seemed to touch this room. Maybe Eric had told Janine or anybody else not to touch it. Strange, there was no trace of perfume. Anyway, she preferred it that way.

Sookie opened the cupboard and took a set of bed sheet, pillow and blanket.

The black lady night gown was still on the bed, laying at the edge, stitching her eyes.

Sookie took a deep breath. She had to face it, sooner or later; and she decided to face it sooner than later.

Heavy-hearted she put the linen on the bed, grabbed that lady night gown and wanted to throw it in the bin, when something fell from it. A golden ribbon, made of silk. She took that golden ribbon. Somehow, it looked familiar to her.

She put the night gown on the bed and put the golden ribbon on it. The little strings, the deep décolleté and the golden ribbon…she had once worn the same night gown like this, combined with a pair of earrings; a long golden chain with ruby...she had worn it in the night Eric took her to Fangtasia for the first time.

Sookie felt weak on her knees. This night gown was hers. Eric had told her the truth; he had not cheated on her and she had been wasting the last three weeks of their life by acting like an immature idiot.

Sookie got undressed and put that Little Black on. The gown was too small for her now; she could not close it. The part on the hip was too tight and the cut which used to be too low, now it was perfect. Her breast must have been getting bigger after she had breastfed James. She could not put the golden ribbon on the cloth anymore because it had been ripped off and she could not fix it. At least not now.

Then she made the bed and waited for Eric.

Her heart was beating faster as she heard footsteps. She did not know how the virgin brides felt when they were waiting for their newly wed husband came to their rooms, but she could imagine that they might have felt the same thing as she was feeling now. She was not a virgin, that's for sure, but she felt like one; nervous, curious and impatient waiting for her lover to come. She did not know how many times she had looked herself into the mirror to check if she did not look ridiculous; and she wanted to do it one more time, but Eric's footsteps were getting louder.

"I thought you'd be in your room," Eric said as he entered the room. His eyes were shining brighter when he saw her standing beside the bed. Those blue eyes were looking at her from head down to toes with a smirk. "You are wearing the dress,"

"It's a little bit too small for me now…" Sookie said, trying to draw a smile. She could hear her own voice trembling. "But perhaps I can fix it…"

Eric closed the door behind him and walked slowly towards her.

"It seems that you…"

Eric cut her sentence with a kiss. When he released himself, his fangs were out.

"…like the dress…"

Slowly he removed the strings and kissed her neck softly. His fangs touched the wounds from yesterday and with a little touch, Sookie could feel something flowing on her shoulder. Eric's cold tongue licked it and when his lips were on the wound, Sookie gasped. Eric sucked her blood with such an appetite that she felt as if she was sucked along. She wrapped her hand around his neck and with one lift; she wrapped her legs around his hip. Eric helped her staying there by placing his hands under her ass.

Then he carried her to the bed. Softly he put her down onto the mattress. "It's your place now," he said, taking off his shirt and jeans impatiently. "And it's just the beginning,"

Soon the little black was taken off from her and thrown away somewhere. Eric looked at her as if he was seeing her for the first time. Sookie was more and more nervous. She was not the same the way she used to be. She was not that firm young naive twenty-year old girl anymore. Now, under the bright light, Eric could see every thing. All the fat, all the wrinkles.

"What is this?" he touched the scar above her breasts. "I've never seen it before."

"It's from the operation when the doctors took the bullet out."

"I didn't know that you had been shot."

"They tried to kill me when they kidnapped you fifteen years ago. Joseph Newlin had changed his mind and saved me,"

"I should remember his deed," he said, spoken like a king who received news about the good deed of one of his knights. Then he kissed the scar. "I should see if you have another scar from saving me," his mouth moved slowly downward, lingered for a while on the nipple, whilst his hand gently squeezed the other breast. Sookie felt her blood rushing to her head, made her trembled. She searched for something to hold, because otherwise she was afraid she would explode from this sudden feelings of excitement.

Eric went down to his knees. His hands were going down following the shape of her hips and carefully removed her panties. His finger touched the scar on her bikini line. "And where did it come from?"

"It's from the caesarean section,"

He looked up. "I don't understand,"

Sookie thought that Eric was joking, but when she saw the confusion in his eyes, she realized, Eric was serious with his question. "Sometimes, women cannot deliver their babies normally because the babies are too big or the mothers are sick or any other reasons, the doctors will help them by opening the stomach and take the baby out from there."

"James was born through your stomach?"

"Yes. He was too big to be born in the normal way."

Eric kissed that scar. "He is my son," His voice sounded striding with pride. Then without another word, his mouth was going down.

Sookie moaned. She felt her heart beating faster and faster. She searched for something to hold, to stop herself from coming and when she could not stop it anymore, she said, "Come to me,"

Slowly, teasingly, Eric crawled upon her body, kissing each inch whilst doing it and drove Sookie crazy. He lifted her leg to make her position more comfortable and as he was entering her, Sookie heard him moaning.

That night, Sookie felt like she had found a new love.

Eric took the time to touch every part of her body and kiss each in turn. He caressed the stretched skin on her belly and gently kissed her caesarean scar as if it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. His eyes were sparkling and there was a smirk on his face. His lips moved upwards, kissing and biting any part of skin he desired; the skin on her ribs, on her breast, above her breast, her shoulder, and finally kissed the lines under her eyes gently. Every part of her back was not escaped from his hand and mouth. He kissed and touched every part of it, arousing her senses and the nerves on her skin, making her tingle. He worked his way down her back with gentle butterfly kisses stopping briefly to nip at her shoulder blade and gently lap at the thin river of blood. Sookie gasped as he did it, but the pain was soon gone as she felt his cold hands were everywhere at once. That gasps of pain was changed with her gasps of pleasure at his touch and when he knelt between her thighs and she rose to meet him with a groan. Their two bodies joined and merged; and Sookie knew that for all her anger and refusal to let Eric back into her life, she was as much his as she had ever been.

She could hear herself screaming and painting under his body and bore her fingernails on his back when the feeling as Eric moved his body up and down. The rhythm of his body was like the waves that graced the sand on the beach, touching each and every single one of them, caressing them, pulling them to the ocean and then without any mercy smashed them against the rocks. Sookie heard herself begging to Eric to move faster and harder as she felt herself coming. Her fingernails bored even deeper, thrust inside his skin. She heard him moaning, she heard herself moaning. And as his body was hard inside and on her, she let out a scream as Eric also let out some words that she did not understand.

The room then became quiet. She heard nothing, but her own breath. She snuggled against Eric as close as possible. She wanted to feel his cold skin; she wanted to be in his arm, feeling safe and warm. In her crazy thought, she wanted to feel his heart beat, but she pushed away that thought as fast as it had come. Eric was a vampire now; he had no heartbeat anymore. She had to learn that fact again.

Her hair and his mingled. It was difficult to tell which part belonged to whom.

Eric kissed her head. "I knew that you were still mine," he whispered. His voice was deep and growling. If he had been a human, Sookie swore, he would have sounded out of breath. "I could feel it in my blood, even when you did not want to talk to me,"

Sookie looked at him. His eyes were small and somehow looked peaceful. "You had not contacted me or James in your first two weeks. I believed if we had not come to Fangtasia, you would not have come to us,"

"You should have given me more credits," he smiled. "I was like a new born vampire in those two weeks. The first thing that I saw and tasted in my mouth was you; and I thank Godric for making that possible. Had it been somebody else, it would have been her or his last day to see the sun."

Sookie moved her finger around his nipple. Suddenly the skin around it was covered with goose bumps. She did not know that vampires had also goose bumps. She kissed it, "And why?" she asked.

"I would have dried her or him out," he said. Sookie felt his fangs softly touch her head. "But I recognized your blood; it was as sweet as before."

Sookie looked up and touched his fangs. _But yours is different, now._

"I had woken up before and felt hungry; for how long, I did not know. I was laying there and unable to move. I summoned Pam to come, called Godric, but nobody heard me as if I was somewhere in the abyss, waiting for my final death. The coffin was hot. It was not hot enough to burn me, but it was hot enough to drain me. I was thirsty; my skin was like being stitched by thousand needles. It was hot and painful. I demanded, screamed and begged to anybody to open the coffin or to kill me, but it was useless. Nobody was there to hear me.

Then I smelt human and I knew human's curiousity and stupidity. 'He will open the door,' I thought. 'I will pay his family handsomely for the payment of his blood,' (Eric kissed her head as he was saying that). I heard the coffin opened and I heard a voice, but I could not really recall. Godric must have commanded me or put a spell on me that I forgot some things in my life, to ease the torture and the pain of being locked up.

Then I tasted the wine – True Blood; and I smelt fresh blood. Slowly I gained some strength and decided to jump out of the coffin and to have my meal; but as your blood wetted by lips and ran down on my throat, all the memories returned to me and then I realized whom I was feeding on."

Now they were lying on their sides, facing each other. Eric's hand was trailing along her arm, then moving slowly to her back.

"Before I could do anything, a boy grabbed me. He looked like me, and spoke my language. I thought Freyr was mocking me when I heard you said that he was my son. How could I have a son? I am a vampire; I am not a human. I can't possibly have a son. And he asked me questions I could not answer. The next thing I knew, both of you were gone.

Those two weeks were the hardest days of my life because Godric commanded me to stay away from both of you until I was able to master myself again. 'The world is not like what we knew of,' Godric said. 'And you, my son, have a lot of new things to learn.' Every night Godric and Pam gave me fresh blood so that I regained my strength faster. I was surprised to know that there were people who sold their blood for a price openly. Before we had to buy fresh blood among the prostitutes; and we were never sure if they were healthy or not. Now, we can buy it anywhere. More than that, the artificial blood that I always drank tastes much better.

Every night I went to your place, watching you from a distance. You could not imagine how much I wanted you; I would do anything to be able to have you again. Every night I went to bed with one of your cloths, tried to sense your scent even touched myself with it! I thought I went insane!"

And she was stupid enough to think that Eric had taken another woman. Sookie moved closer and started kissing him. So stupid.

"Don't you want to hear the rest of the story?" Eric asked among the kisses.

"Eh-hm," Sookie answered without thinking.

"Then Alcide called me…" Eric moaned as Sookie bit his nipple. "He said…" Sookie put her mouth on his chest then softly moved it down. "He said…argh…" 'Click' Eric could not finish his sentence anymore as Sookie did what she knew Eric loved very much. She took his cock in her mouth and gently licked and sucked on it until he groaned, panted and at the end said words she did not understand.

As if they wanted to catch the fifteen years that had gone forever, they did not stop making love to each other until almost dawn. The advantage of having a vampire as a lover was that he did not know or was not able to feel tired at all. Eric seemed to be able to regain his energy from thin air and before Sookie could catch a breath, he started touching her again. The disadvantage was he did not know when to stop or if he was willing to stop. And his fangs, which bored to her skin here and there, gave her not only pleasure but also pain and marks. At the end, Sookie had to beg Eric to stop before she fell asleep. She was afraid she would not be able to walk anymore or she would walk limply permanently because her back was painful. As a matter of fact every bone she had ached and she was afraid Eric might have broken them, not to mention that her vagina was burning like hell. But all those thoughts disappeared as Eric kissed her goodnight and dragged himself back to his vault. From the corner of her eyes she could see Eric did not walk so straight either, but then that image was soon gone as she lost her last strength and fell into the deepest slumber.

************


	14. Talking to Alcide

**Author's Note: While I was listening to Tak Matsumoto Group, I wrote this chapter. There is another Eric whom I am crazy about. Eric Martin, the best voice in the music business! TMG rocks!**

Thirteen

**Talking to Alcide  
**

The bright sun of June finally woke her up. Sookie wrapped herself around with the blanket and dragged her feet to the other room. _The other room, heh_. It had been her room, but after what happened last night, she was not sure if she would return to her old room. Even if she would, Eric would not let her.

Oh, how her body ached! Her thighs and back felt like weighted a ton, and it was painful for her to move. Her nipples were sore and there were traces of biting on her lips and shoulder. She did not check her back, but she believed there would be some biting marks as well and on her legs, she felt something sticky.

Jesus, if Eric did it every night, she believed she could forget her career. Hah, career! She was not even sure if she could keep her job with a 'broken body' like this.

She gave another look to the room before she went out. The room was like a battlefield. Their clothes spread all over the room, the pillows were on the floor, but among all of that chaos, the Little Black was catching her eyes. She picked up that gown and kissed it. "Thank you," she said, smiling.

Sookie put her pyjama on and then covered herself with a bathrobe. She was too tired and too lazy to dress up. Maybe later, much later, after a cup of strong coffee and something to eat, she would take a shower of bath, or went back to bed. She did not know. Let see.

She went down to the kitchen.

"You're an angel, Janine," she said as she saw Janine was in the kitchen, making coffee. The smell of fresh bread from the oven, hmh, she felt suddenly very hungry. "Thank you," she said when Janine poured a cup of coffee. She sipped it. Oh, heaven! She was definitely in heaven! She could feel how the caffeine rushed her blood, and opened her eyes. "Is James up already?"

"Yes, since early morning, but he went to the woods."

"Alone?"

"No, with Sam."

"What are they doing in the woods?"

"I don't know. Playing, perhaps. Sam is in his cloak,"

_Sam is in his cloak? _

Sookie looked at Janine and wanted to ask the question when she saw that her eyes were swollen. "Are you alright, Janine?"

Janine sat down. Tears ran down on her cheek. "It's Simon," she wiped off the tears. "He's getting worse,"

"Getting worse? How? I thought the powder that Laffy gave helped his wound,"

"Yes, he's not wounded anymore," she said. "But…but he doesn't get any better," then she whispered, as if by saying it lower, it would have not been real. "Mostly he sleeps, but when he awakes, he sees things, hears things…like he is living in the realm of passing…"

"Realm of passing?"

"The realm of the spirits," Janine said. "Or you can call it 'in trance', high or hallucinating."

"Is he using some kind of drugs?"

"No, not Simon," Janine said. "It is all because of the wound in his shoulder…"

"Do you know what had attacked him? Was it a person, animals…supernatural beings?"

"We believe that it was human. Animals or supernatural beings did not use knives to attack their enemies."

"What did the police say about it?"

"We did not report it to the police,"

"What? Surely Andy can help you guys,"

"The Pack wants to keep it in the family, Sookie." Her tears ran down again, this time, it was harder than before. "I just don't know if I can continue keeping it as a secret when something happens to my children…"

Sookie took Janine in her arms. "We will work it out, Janine. I promise you that," she said. She had the same fear with Janine, now that somebody had overheard them. James could be the next victim, as far as she concerned.

Janine's slim body shook hard. As if she wanted to let out all the feelings that she had been keeping, she sobbed loudly. Sookie did not know how it was to be a member of a pack, if there was an obligation to keep the harmony and the balance of the pack, but one thing for sure, Janine never really showed her feelings. If they were at the table, having dinner, Janine would be busy behind the stove, preparing the food. She rarely spoke until she was directly addressed to and as far as Sookie could remember, Janine never came forward to speak up her minds. Sookie wondered, if there was a hierarchy among the werewolves, that the male would be the first, the children and then the female members as the last.

Sookie also did not know how the women interacted with each other. Since Janine and her family lived at the mansion, she never saw any single female member of the Long Tooth Pack. Were they not allowed to leave the house, or was it for the security purposes that only male members were allowed to be here?

"I am sorry, Sookie," Janine said. "I don't mean to burden you even more…"

Sookie shook her head, "Don't think about it, Janine."

Janine released herself from Sookie's arms. She wiped off her tears. "I'd better get Alcide. He wants to talk to you since the morning," she said.

Sookie wanted to talk to him too.

Then Janine left the kitchen. Vaguely, Sookie heard her calling her brother.

Alcide entered the kitchen with a face like stone. Sookie could see every line on his face clearly as if he became ten years older in one night. He sat down in front of her. His green eyes were directed to her neck. Instinctively, Sookie tried to cover the biting marks, but it was too late. He had seen them. "What happened?" he asked.

Obviously, he did not ask about the biting marks. Alcide would be too polite to ask her a direct question like that.

Sookie decided to play with an open card. "Somebody ambushed and shot at us while we were on the road to Baton Rouge." Sookie said.

"What?! Were you hurt?"

"No, but James was. He got shot in the chest,"

"James? He looks al…" his face got harder. "Oh, he drank Eric's blood."

"Yes," Sookie looked at him. "But we were not the targets, Alcide. It was a mistake."

"What do you mean?" he stared at her. Like being hit by unseen hammer, he let himself fall onto the chair. "It was because of my car,"

Sookie nodded.

"I am very sorry; I did not consider the possibility that they would use this situation to attack me. I should have not come to you at the first place,"

"They? Who is 'they'?"

"There will be a changing power in our pack in three months. My father feels that he is much too old to lead the pack. He wants to resign as the leader of the pack and give the position to the younger ones,"

"Now, in this situation?"

"Especially now, Sook. He doesn't think that he can keep up with the time. There are so many new things happening and he simply doesn't have the power and the knowledge to follow the development. The world is not the same anymore, Sook. And for an old man like my father, it is simply too much.

Look, Sookie. I am sorry, I should have thought about it, but there are so many things in between that happened that it simply slipped out of my mind," Alcide took her hand. "I would never ever put you or your family in danger. You've just got to believe me,"

"I do, Alcide," Sookie said.

"Thank you," Alcide pressed her hand. "I just hope that James would believe me,"

"Why did you say that?"

"He's kind of avoiding me the whole morning," Alcide said. "I wanted to talk to him, you know, about what happened at the palace, but he always had a reason to go."

_About that. _Slowly Sookie pulled her hand away. "Something had happened at the palace,"

His green eyes were alerted. Sookie got his full attention now. His body was straightened up, his hands were on the table and his jaw seemed to clench together. "What was it?"

"Somebody had recognized him as your…" Sookie swallowed her spit. It was difficult for her to say the word.

"My…?"

Sookie took a deep breath. "Cub. Son, your son. Somebody thought James was your son,"

"I wish he was," his green eyes looked straight at her. As if by staring at her like that he could read what was in her mind, he repeated his sentence. "I wish he was,"

"Alcide…" Sookie felt very uncomfortable. The situation was not as easy as she wanted to be. She thought she could be angry with Alcide, yelled at him or cursed him to take such a step without asking her or at least asking James, but when she saw those green eyes, which were looking at her with such sincerity, she knew she just couldn't do it.

"I did it instinctively, Sookie, and I apologize that I did not tell you earlier. I really am sorry. I could not think of something else than to protect him as my son. The situation is not on our favour, Sookie. I have to do the things fast and right. The packs want to have the Grand Gathering in the next full moon, to share the information and to find a solution of the matter."

"I don't see what happened to your pack had anything to with what you did to James,"

"If James was my son, he would receive the same treatment as the member of the pack. You, as his mother, would have the same vote like any other member, and you would be able to speak at the Grand Gathering."

"Grand Gathering?"

"It's a meeting among the werewolves where every pack in this country meets at the Square Stone in Beaumont. We gather to discuss matters that we consider important, such as territorial conflicts, election of the members of the Grand Werewolves Council, or things that happen to us now.

I need you to be there, to explain the thing. Besides, you are the only person who has direct access to the highest hierarchy of vampire world in Louisiana. You probably would be able to convince other kings and queens to help us. The members of the Grand Werewolves Council have to hear it from you the importance of having the names of all werewolves, so that we can protect the half-breeds.

I know, I should have asked you, and you have the right to be angry with me now, I will accept that, but I really need your presence there at the Gathering,"

"You do realise, that by claiming him as your son, you put him in jeopardy? He could be the next target of this murder because they think he is one of the second class werewolves and your enemies would think that he would be the next candidate for your pack's throne, and he would be eliminated?!"

"Second class werewolves?" His eyebrows were lifted.

"Half-breed, or whatever you call it!"

"I know," Alcide said, "And I am really sorry, but that's the only way to protect him. Those who come for your help know about you and your son. Anybody who wants to do any harm to him would think twice before they do it because they know that they will have to face me and my people,"

"Or they will use him against you,"

"Or that," Alcide said. His voice was low Sookie was almost not able to hear it. "They will use him against me, even when I didn't claim him. You are helping us, Sookie. And you," suddenly he smiled. "…are Eric Northman's master."

"I am…what?"

"That's how we call you. You are the owner of this house now; you can kick his ass out at any time you want."

Sookie smiled. Interesting idea, but this was his house. She never really accepted the house. She remembered saying to Pam that she did not want to have the house. Pam or anybody else that Pam liked were welcomed to come to Northman Mansion, she would care less.

She wondered, if she accepted the house, did it mean the vampires had to wait for her invitation so that they could enter the house?

Eric's face flashed in front of her eyes. It would be very interesting to see his reaction if she rescinded her invitation. Eric Northman was kicked out from his own house…Sookie was stunned by thought. She knew how much Eric loved this house, even then he was willing to take the risk to be kicked out from it. He must have trusted her completely.

"So what happened at the Palace?" asked Alcide. "Did The Queen agree to help us?"

"It is complicated, Al. She has the power over Louisiana only. She will do what she can with conditions."

"What are the conditions?"

"What you can offer her?"

"She asked what we could do for her?"

"Yes,"

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. I can't promise her the things that I don't have. I don't know what you and your people are capable of or willing to do. You have to tell me,"

"What about the brothers and sisters from other areas? Would she help them too?"

"I don't know. What I know, her husband doesn't agree to help her."

"Her husband? She has a husband?"

"Yes, she does."

"What does it mean that he doesn't agree to help? Does he have power over Louisiana?"

"He doesn't want to help before we bring the matter in front of National Vampires' Assembly. And no, I don't think that he has power over Louisiana, but more likely over Arkansas. He is the King of Arkansas."

"National Vampires' Assembly you said?" He closed his eyes and became quiet. His voice choked when he said, "They want Eric."

"They want Eric? The vampires want Eric? Why?"

"He returned from the death. Every vampire in this land would do anything to put their hands on his secret," his eyes were smaller. "And every king and queen will see him as a threat upon their power because if Eric wants, he can take over any kingdom he wants and there will be no king or queen who will be able to stop him,"

Sookie thought that it was so overrated, this returned-from-the-death thing, but perhaps if Eric was willing to take advantage of 'his status', he could persuade the vampires to do what he wanted, what she wanted, which is to help Alcide. To make Eric do what she wanted would be a challenge, a very interesting challenge that she was going to take.

"By the way," Alcide said, pulling her back to reality. "You said somebody recognized James. Do you know who it was?"

The image of that crazy werewolf-vampire or vampire-werewolf flashed in front of her eyes. "He said his name was Tom Rodney,"

"Tom Rodney….that name sounded familiar…where did I hear that name…"

"There was something strange about him." Sookie said. "Eric called him 'a half-life'."

"A what?"

"He was a vampire, but he was also a werewolf."

Alcide's lips were tight. He wanted to say something, but words did not seem to reach his tongue. He scratched his jaw, and then said, "I thought I heard everything," he took a deep breath. "What did he say?"

"Mostly he was murmuring and it seemed to me he was not himself. He was afraid – paranoid to be exact, and seemed to be out of place. He said he heard noises and he warned us to beware of some food…"

Alcide's face suddenly turned pale. "What happened then?"

"He tried to attack James,"

"What? Was he alright?"

"Yes, Eric stopped him and killed him."

Alcide looked at her. His voice sounded bitter when he said, "He will do anything for you, Sookie." His eyes were trailing on her neck. _It seemed that he had you already. _He thought, but he said, "I don't know if I should be happy or worried," he took her hands, "I know it will sound terrible, but if you can make him using his influence to ask the kings and the queens to work for us," he added hastily "The werewolves, I mean. It would be a big help. You and I alone will not be able to solve these murders, Sookie,"

"I know, Alcide." Sookie said.

"That's the only way, Sookie."

As much as she hated to hear it, she admitted what Alcide said was true. But how to manipulate the Master of Manipulation himself? She was not Wilson, and she did not think that she was good with lying. And the hell, if she used James! Sex? She's afraid, she would be the one who would lose in his tricks and manipulation. She would never ever win to compete with his 1000 years of experience.

Love?

Sookie shuddered with the thoughts. Her chest felt heavy. Would he do anything she asked if he loved her? Would she be able to make him loving her the way he had loved Aude?

Did he love her? Did she love him?

Would she be able to love him the way Aude had loved him, to let him drink blood from other women, to find lovers for him when she was not able to do it anymore, to find a wife or partner for him and accept the new woman with warm heart just like what Aude had done for him?

No, she could not do it. She was not as strong as Aude had been, and possibly would never be.

"Sookie, are you alright?" Alcide touched her face. "You look worried,"

Sookie drew herself away from Alcide and stood up. "I am fine, Alcide," she lied. "I think I need to take a bath,"

Outside, Sookie saw James entering the garden with a collie. He threw a stick and the dog ran to catch it. Now she understood what Janine had meant with Sam was in his cloak. Sam was in his favourite shape, the collie. She was grateful to have such a friend like him and promised herself to pay his deed someday, somehow.

********


	15. The Visiting

Fourteen

**The Visiting**

"Eric…"

"Yes, Lover?"

"I would like to visit Simon tonight,"

Eric's hand, which was running through her hair, stopped moving. Some moment later, he continued. "I don't like going to the Haven," he said. "It's like entering the zoo at feeding time,"

Sookie could understand that. It must have been difficult for a vampire to enter the werewolves' area alone. She put her head on his shoulder. "I think Simon is the key for Alcide's problem," she touched his face. "I want to talk to him and find out what he was doing."

"You talked to Alcide?"

Yes, she had. Two days ago, as a matter of fact, but in those two days she had not a chance to do anything else. Eric had not let her. Sookie smiled. It was not fair to blame him for this matter. She had enjoyed those two days as much as he had. She had lazily spent the days on the bed or at the swimming pool, waited for him to wake up, eaten her dinner on the bed with Eric sat or lay beside her, touched her, bit her and when he lost his patience, he would take the plate away and clear the bed for having sex with her. He bluntly called what they did 'fucking' instead of 'making love', which - to be honest - nerved her, but at the end she did not care how or what he called it because she knew he would give her pleasure just like every time they had done it.

After that, they would soak their body in the warm water; mostly they would not say a word. They would wash their hair; rub the soaped sponge on each other body before one of them started touching, kissing, and seducing the other, which would end up with the next lovemaking. Sookie called it lovemaking because Eric would move gently and tenderly as if he wanted to repay any roughness that he had done earlier.

If they grew tired – she grew tired mostly, they would lie on their sides and Eric would ask James' early time. What his first word was (Mama, which made her very happy); when he got his first tooth (four months and two days); when he had walked for the first time (a day before her 28th birthday). He would smirk or smile, but never laugh. It made her wonder if Eric had ever laughed in his life.

The same thing that they were doing right now, sitting in bathtub inside warm water and bathing salt with lavender essence. Sookie had to let the hot water run from time to time because Eric's body temperature was almost like an ice temperature that made the water get cold very fast.

"He didn't talk much about Simon," Sookie said, which she regretted. She should have forced Alcide to talk about Simon and not about the reason he had marked James as his son. It was just any conversation about James' safety always took her attention away from any other subjects.

"What did you two talk about?" Eric asked. There was a strong tune of disliking in his voice.

Sookie turned around. The water rippled as she did it and flowed over the bathtub edge and fell to the floor.

"I told him what had happened at the Palace,"

Eric sniffed; his jaw moved dangerously. The soft look in his eyes that he had before they entered the bathtub was gone.

"He apologized for what he had done, claiming James as his son without asking me," Sookie said, somehow feeling guilty for defending Alcide. "He said that it was necessary because whether he did it or not, his enemies would attack James. He is my son and I am helping him, so…"

Eric's smirk cut her sentence. "He is never good in making excuses,"

"Well, he's not you," Sookie touched his face and kissed him.

Eric removed her hair that covered her face and returned the kisses. "What else did he say?" he asked.

Sookie did not think that it was the right time to ask him about the National Vampires' Assembly. She did not want to push her luck. Maybe next time. "About the owner of this house," she said as softly as possible.

Again, Eric sniffed.

Suddenly Sookie felt stupid and guilty. It must have been a difficult subject for him, knowing the risk that he could be thrown out from the house at any time.

"Cecco built it for me," he said. "It had always been mine until I had taken a human as my wife. Then it belonged to Aude until she gave it to you. Aude declared this house as hers and mine; and it would stay that way until you accept it, wordily."

"Wordily? You mean I have to say it?"

"As the invitation for vampires or the rescinding at that matter, a human has to say it."

Sookie looked at those blue eyes. They were cold, but flickering. Eric knew what was at stake right now. Losing his sanctuary or having it as before would be depended on what she was going to say.

"What about James?"

"Aude gave it to you, your saying is stronger than his, but as soon as you accept it, he has the same rights as you," he said. "I know you don't accept it yet…"

"How do you know?"

"Pam, Godric and Chow could come here as they pleased in the last fifteen years, there would be no other reason or had you allowed them to come?"

Eric was right. She had not accepted the house yet, at least not wordily.

"Do you want that I do the same as Aude did, Eric?"

His head moved like a snake. A strange feeling crawled upon her back. She did not like seeing Eric reacted like that. She felt as if she had done something wrong, terribly wrong, she just did not know what.

"I want you to do what you want," Eric said. "I trust you to make the right decision on your own,"

"I need time for this," Sookie thought aloud.

"I know," Eric said, standing up, showing his beautiful body to her. The pearls of water ran down on his long legs, some of them stayed on the tips of his golden hair, shimmering under the light, the rest jumped down to bathtub again. "When do you want to visit Simon?" he asked.

Reluctantly Sookie pulled herself together. Her hand, which had been reaching out to touch those pearls of water on Eric's legs, was now resting on the edge of the bathtub. "Tonight, if it's possible,"

"Let's do it,"

Perhaps it was only her eyes, but Eric looked dashing tonight. He wore bright red shirt with black jeans and black leather jacket. His hair was sleek and gleaming.

As Sookie looked at herself in the mirror, she felt like one of those older women who dated younger men. She was in her business clothes, which looked not only very formal, but also a bit conservative. She wore one of her blouses, which had high collar in a purpose. She wanted to hide the biting marks on her neck because she did not want the werewolves who were in the house followed her with their lusty eyes. On the other hand, her clothes made her look somehow older. Compared herself to Eric, she really felt old, especially when Eric looked ridiculously stunning like now.

Eric kissed her lightly on the nose. "You think too much," he said. Then he smirked. "But of course, if you think about me, then it's a must."

"Of course," Sookie said in sarcasm.

He grinned, but he did not say a word.

One of Alcide's men came to them as they reached the kitchen. They had visitors, he said, Andy Bellefleur and his new detective. They were waiting for them in the living room.

"Detective Sgt. Luna," Andy introduced the woman who stood beside him. "She will work for me in Bon Temps for a while,"

She was that insufferably annoying woman Sookie had met at Fangtasia.

_They live together, _that woman thought. _Fucking great._

Sookie swallowed her spit. "What can I do for you, Sheriff?" she asked Andy.

"Well, Detective Luna has some questions for you and Mr. Northman; and I think since she will be here quite a while, it would be better if you got to know each other,"

"We have met," Detective Luna said.

"Oh, that's good," Andy said. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know that they are _living_ together," Detective Luna emphasized the word 'living' as if it was something disgusting.

"Now you know," Eric said, leaning on the back of the chair. "What can I do for you, Det. Luna?"

Was it only her, or did Eric give her a look the way he had given her the look when they first met? His eyes boldly trailed on her body as if he wanted to drag her to the corner right at that moment.

Sookie took a deep breath quietly. _Control yourself, Sookie. _She told herself.

Det. Luna opened her handbag and put some photographs on the table. "Did you ever see any of these men?"

Sookie took the photographs. They were four photographs of three men. Two photographs were taken somewhere on a street. One showed them talking beside a car, and the other, one of the men was going inside the car. The other two were taken inside a bar or nightclub. This time, there were only two men. The one who was going inside the car was not on the pictures anymore.

Sookie recognized one of the men whose pictures were taken inside a bar. He was one of the unwanted visitors. He was one of the werewolves from Beaumont. His habit of wearing cowboy hat and leather vest gave him away; however, she would not tell them, before she talked to Alcide.

Eric took a look at the photographs without a blink. His voice was flat and cold when he said, "No, I don't recognize them and you'd taken the pictures in my bar,"

The bar was Fangtasia? Sookie took the photographs and looked at them closely for the second time. Still, she could not recognize it. _Moment, _she thought, _if those photos were taken at Fangtasia, did it mean…._

She looked at Andy and Det. Luna. "Do those men have something to do with the murder at Fangtasia?"

Andy pointed at the man beside the werewolf from Beaumont. "He was the victim," he said.

_So, it's true, _Det. Luna thought, _they say, the Stackhouses are man and woman eaters. Any woman will fall in love with the male, and any man will fall in love with the female. It looks like Bellefleur is also one of the eaten one. Fuck! It's not gonna be fucking easy._

Sookie stood up abruptly. Man eater?! And Andy Bellefleur was 'eaten' by her?! That was beyond ridiculous!

"Are you alright, Sook?" Andy asked.

"You don't answer my question, Detectives," Eric's question drew Andy's attention to him. He looked at Eric for a moment and then turned away. Andy still had problems to look Eric straight into his eyes. Many people do, actually. Eric's eyes were cold and frightening many times. Sookie did not know if Eric did it on purpose or it was just the way he looked at others because he rarely did that to her. Most of the time, he would stare at her with those teasing or tempting looks.

"I don't know the reasons," Andy said. "Maybe Det. Luna can answer your question better. It is her assignment, after all."

_Great, fucking coward!_

Det. Luna cleared her throat. "This man," she pointed at the werewolf from Beaumont, "is wanted because of industrial espionage activity."

"By whom?" Sookie asked.

"NIC,"

"NIC as…Northman Industrial Company?" Sookie looked at Eric. Had he known anything about it? But Eric was looking at Det. Luna without a blink.

"Yes, I think it is the previous Northman Industrial Company," Det. Luna fought back Eric's stare. Her brown eyes were flickering. "It is North International Corporation now."

Eric and Det. Luna stared at each other. If the lights that came from their eyes had been able to kill, one of them would have been dead by now. Their eyes were cold and penetrating. Sookie swore, in any second, Eric's fangs would come out and tear that woman's neck apart, whilst Det. Luna could draw the gun on her hip and pull the trigger.

Then they broke apart. Det. Luna turned her face away. She was pale and for a moment, her eyes blinked rapidly. Eric was still on his position, sitting with the fingers of each hand met forming a triangle. However, something was bothering him. Sookie could see how his eyes were suddenly narrowing and becoming alert. Andy, on the other side, was sitting with pale face and sweat was falling on his chubby face.

_Shit, _Det. Luna thought. _Fucking shit._

The living room became quiet; nobody spoke, not even in their heads. Somewhere on the background, James was singing a Swedish song. He must have been singing it in his head since nobody seemed to be bothered by it. Sookie could feel how the air became heavy from the tension that slowly was creeping. Eric did not let Det. Luna be off the hook easily. He continued staring at her, but this time he was calculating her. As if he wanted to know what was inside her head. Not so much, Sookie could him that easily. Det. Luna had a wide variety of cursing words and at the moment, she was using them in her head.

After some awkward moment of silence, Andy and Det. Luna excused themselves to leave.

"Something is bothering you," Sookie said after they left. "What is it Eric?"

"I am not sure," he said. "Something about that woman…she's…interesting,"

_Interesting?_

"Keep an eye on her, she might be useful,"

Sookie could see that Detective Luna was an attractive young woman. She was a bit younger than she was as she had come to Northman Mansion for the first time; she had a strong figure – maybe because of her training as a detective, dark hair, big brown eyes…but interesting? Her head was full with cursing words. Sookie had never read such a head before. She wondered if Detective Luna had ever known other words.

Alcide was not exactly exited as Eric told him that they wanted to visit Simon. "He is still not in the condition to receive any guest," he said. "I am afraid he will not be able to answer any questions from you."

"Alcide, you called me," Eric said. "Don't make things much more difficult than what they already are."

"I'll come with you," Alcide said.

"No," Eric said. "You marked your territory inside my house; you'd better as well defend it,"

Eric's voice made Sookie's skin crawl. It was not only cold but also threatening. Sookie saw his hands were forming into claws. To her surprise, Alcide snarled. His mouth moved like a mouth of a dog. Long dark hair suddenly came up out of nowhere, covered his face, moved like the surface of water that was touched by wind, crept slowly on all over his body.

'Click' that familiar voice filled the air.

Sookie was standing between them in horror. Both of them now were facing each other ready to jump to each other. A sound of bone cracking filled Sookie's ears like the sound of firecracker as Alcide was transforming.

"What are you two doing?" James' voice was like a spell, breaking the tension.

Both Eric and Alice looked at James who was standing on the stairs. Alcide's long hairs were disappeared as fast as they came. Eric's fangs were in, but his hands were still in claw formation.

"Are you fighting over me?" James asked.

Sookie sighed. James always called a spade a spade, to anybody at any time, even now. She wished he could be more diplomatic.

"No," said Alcide

"Yes," said Eric.

At the same time.

Now Sookie knew from where James had that terrible habit.

"You two are fucking unbelievable," he said. When Alcide approached him, James said, "I don't want to hear it!" Then suddenly he hugged Alcide. Perplexed by that unexpected display of affection, Alcide just stood there, not knowing what to do. When he could master himself again, James had let him go and come to Eric, and hugged him. Eric's hands were loosing. Clearly, he did not get used to be hugged by somebody. Just like what he had done to Alcide, James did not hug Eric very long either.

"You two should be ashamed of yourselves," Sookie said as soon as James left the kitchen. "We are facing danger that can come to our families at any time and you two are fighting over a boy who clearly likes having you both!"

"It's not that…" Alcide opened his mouth, but Sookie snapped him.

"I don't want to hear it!" She walked away from both of them. "I want to talk to Simon and I will go alone if I have to,"

"You go, Eric," Sookie heard Alcide saying. "I'll stay,"

"I'll call Pam to come," Eric said.

"I'll tell my father that you and Sookie are coming,"

The Haven in Shreveport was different from what Sookie remembered. The high wires, which had surrounded the Herveaux residence, had been changed with thick walls. She was not sure about the cameras, but she had a feeling they were getting more.

Jackson Herveaux still looked handsome and fit for a man in his 70s. His hair was thinner and almost all white, his body was not as strongly built as before, but he still walked straight and proud. The lines on his skin were deeper and clearer; and the green eyes that shone from that face were deep and wise.

"Northman," he shook Eric's hand. "It's good to see you again,"

"Likewise, Jackson,"

Jackson stared at Eric and smiled. "I thought I heard everything," he said. "But after I heard what happened to you, I am not sure anymore,"

"Don't believe in anything you see, Old child, let alone in what you heard,"

Jackson laughed. "Old child, you called me. You are young in body, but your thought is much older than mine,"

_Oh, you can say that again, _Sookie thought.

Jackson took us to the place where they held Simon. Sookie was confused when he took them to the basement. Why was Simon not in a room? And why were they many werewolves guarding the basement? There were two on the hallway, two in front of the door, and two in the basement.

What was going on?

Sookie tried to read the mind of the werewolves, but she was not able to. They were unclear and echoing, as if they were talking in some kind of padded rooms.

'Click' Eric let his fangs out.

"You are on your own, Northman," Jackson said. "Sookie, if I may advise you, it would be better if you wait outside,"

_No, if everything is out of control, Eric will kill Simon_. Sookie thought. She could not let that happen.

"Thank you, Jackson. I stay with Eric,"

Jackson looked at Sookie, pressed her hands and then left the basement. The werewolves followed him.

"Stay behind me," said Eric.

Sookie nodded.

Slowly they moved forward.

The basement was dim and cool. There was no other source of light, but the lamps beside the door. The floor was cold and the air was mushy.

"Sookie…?" Simon's deep voice called out her name.

Sookie wanted to answer, but Eric gave her a sign not to answer.

From somewhere in the dark corner a sound of rattling chains was heard. Instinctively Sookie grabbed Eric's arm. Somebody was in chains. Was it Simon? Why was she not able to hear his head? Even if it was not clear, Sookie was able to hear werewolves' head; and if she forced herself very hard, she was able to hear them better.

Eric turned around and nodded. He did not say anything, but his eyes gave reinsurance that he was there and there was nothing to worry about.

A face emerged from the darkness. Simon. His face was wet from sweat. His eyes were wide open and frantic.

"Simon, what happened to you?" Not able to stop herself, Sookie ran to him. "What did they do to you? Eric, could you please turn on the light?"

"No, no light please…" Simon said. His voice was trembling. "They use UV lights in this room."

"UV lights?"

"Ultra Violet lights."

"Why would they do that? And for what?"

"To resemble the sun," Simon said, smiling. His lips trembled and his hands were shaking – at least that was what Sookie thought because she heard the chains rattled again. "I asked them to do that."

Sookie did not understand why Simon had asked such a thing. What was the problem if there was a light that resembled the sun, since he was a werewolf? Werewolves had no problem with the sun, vampires did.

Sookie moved backward. Was Simon a vampire now? She looked at Eric, who was standing in guard. "Was he…"

"Yes, Sookie. He is turning into a half-life,"

Simon growled loudly. His voice filled the room in such a power that Sookie felt the walls shaking. Strangely, Sookie felt more pity than afraid. Simon had been a proud werewolf. Sookie could tell from the way he moved when he had been in his wolf-form. He looked like a big, alerted solid black German Shepard. When he moved, he moved in such grace and strength that those who saw him would not only love him but also respect him. Becoming a half-life must have been a hard and bitter fate for him.

"Who had done this to you?" Sookie came close.

Simon's big hand grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. Eric sprang and within second, he was facing Simon, but Sookie stopped him on time. She had a feeling, Simon wanted to tell her something and not do anything that could harm her.

"A year ago," Simon started his story. "There was news about a potion that can control the transformation of the half-breeds. You know what a half-breed, don't you? (Sookie nodded). The news was some kind of a relief for many of us because it meant – if it's true, that we could follow the examples from the Apotamkins. No offence, Eric (Eric answered it by smirking). We could reveal ourselves to the world and they did not have to be afraid that we could not control ourselves.

Of course, like always, there are three opinions on this matter. The one who doesn't agree, the one who does and the one who is undecided. Long Tooth Pack is still undecided. Jackson agrees, but Alcide doesn't. Alcide thinks that it will be better if we wait for a little bit longer until the Apo…vampires' situation is clear.

Alcide then sent me to investigate about this potion. For some months, I could not find anything and started to believe that it was only rumour, to push us to reveal to the world. Then one night around four months, I met the Purefoy brothers from Beaumont. Jake said that he knew somebody from Baton Rouge who had some information about the potion. It was not a potion, actually. It was just like True Blood, a chemical blood or fake blood with a better substance than True Blood. This person had worked for several years on it, but then he disappeared. Before he disappeared, he told Jake's friend that this new blood has a substance that has function like white blood cells and palette. This new True Blood will not only be used as food but it will also make them like normal human being, so that those who were bitten could decide if they want to live as half-breed or back to their normal life.

Then Jake Purefoy was also disappeared. His brother looked for him since then, but we didn't know his whereabouts.

All we know that Jake's friend worked for NIC, that's when we decided to make further investigation by going undercover as NIC workers in one of their factory in Baton Rouge. I found out, they have two separated True Blood Units: one factory, which produced True Blood for the market, and the other for special order. Nobody knows where the location of this special unit because only those who are selected can work there. I found out that those who work for this special unit are either werewolves or half-breed.

I followed one of the half-breeds to know where the location was, but unfortunately, the guards had caught me in action and hunted me. I was injured, and then I ran to save my life. I did not know how long I have been running, it must have been for days. What I remembered that the longer I ran, the more I could not stand the sunlight. I did not know where I was when I heard a voice, which loudly spoke about Eric. I just thought if this person knew Eric, then he must have known you too. If he knew you, then he could help me taking me to your place or at least call Alcide. I followed the voice and I was right. He took me straight to you,"

"Do you know this man, whose voice you heard?"

"I think he was with you at that time, Sookie. A very young voice, almost like a child."

Sookie felt her knees weak. There was only one person who had with her at that time. James. It seemed Eric thought the same too. He looked at her sternly. Then he asked, "Did you talk to somebody else about this young voice?"

"Yes. I told Alcide about him," Simon said.

Alcide. He had known something about James that she didn't. Simon had been able to hear what James had been thinking. Sookie wondered if it was only coincidence or not. Was that the reason Alcide wanted to protect James?

"Promise me something, Sookie." Simon said.

Sookie nodded.

"Take care of my family," Simon said.

"Don't say that, Simon," Sookie said. She felt trembled. Simon was saying goodbye. "You are strong, you will recover,"

But both of them knew, it was only a sweet talk.

"You know I won't live in two worlds," Simon said, smiling. "I asked Jackson to kill me when the time comes," his hand on Sookie's was stronger. "Promise me that you will take care of my family,"

"I give you my words, Simon," Eric was the one who answered. "I'll protect them,"

"Thank you, Eric. My last word to you, Apotamkin. Be careful with your True Blood. Drink fresh,"

"I shall,"

"Now, go." Simon returned to the darkness. "Live well, Sookie."

*********


	16. The Grey Hound's New Member

**Author's Note: Forgive me my dear friends, for the late update. There are things that happen. Let's just say the knots that prevent the mechanism in my brain to work are not easy and tricky to diffuse for the moment.**

Fifteen

**The Grey Hound's New Member  
**

The road to home seemed longer and heavy.

Sookie could not switch off her brain and push away James' face out of her head. The more she tried the stronger and the more frequent his face flashed in front of her.

James seemed to become a stranger to her. She had seen every part of his body; yes, it's true. Besides his nanny who had taken care of him when he was still very little, nobody else took care of him. She knew what noises he made when he was sick, or had nightmares. She also knew the meaning of his smile, what made him laugh, his favourite food or colours.

She and James had talked a lot about what he wanted, what school he wanted to attend and jobs he had in mind when he's grown up.

Obviously, they had not talked about everything. There were things that he hid from her and somehow he managed to shield his thoughts from her. How was he able to have done that? How was she able to have missed that? If he had been able to shield his thoughts from her, what else had he been hiding?

Whatever ability he had, Alcide had known it; and he did not tell her. Would he tell her or would he wait for the right time to tell her?

Sookie leaned her back on the seat. She did not know what to think anymore. She was not sure if she should confront James directly with the fact, or she should wait until James himself came to her. She did not even know what to ask. If she asked him the reason he had been hiding his thoughts from her, he might possibly ask why she wanted to know what he thought. He might as well accuse her for breaking the trust.

They had been always honest with each other, open and discussed many things that happened in their lives. For the last fifteen years, she had never been in his head and she had not regretted a single moment of it, until tonight.

"You think too much, Sookie," Eric said without turning his head. His eyes fixed on the road in front of them. "James will be fine,"

"What will we do, Eric?"

There was a smile on his face. "We?"

"You are his father…don't you want to get involved in this situation?"

"Of course I do. I just thought you'd never ask,"

Sookie touched his arm. "Thank you,"

"James will be fine. Trust me,"

It was half past two in the morning when they arrived at the mansion. Alcide was not there, one of the men said. Colin Purefoy was at Fangtasia and he wanted Alcide to pick him up. He did not want to go to Northman Mansion in the night by himself. As a replacement, Alcide had asked Jack and two new guys to take his turn.

"Sam and your brother are here, Sookie," one of the men said. "Everything is under control, don't worry." Then he smiled encouragingly.

Sookie had read somewhere in the internet that animals could smell fear. Well, not exactly 'smelling the fear itself', but their smell sensory were somehow sensitive and they could trace the special scent, which was lashed out by the under stressed body. Like it or not, she was under a lot of pressure at the moment, surely her body produced a lot of stress hormone. Her smell must have been like a smoke bomb for the werewolves right now because she could see how their eyes followed her moves, not a kind of full of lust staring that she received from time to time, but more sympathetic staring.

"James is sleeping now," said Pam as Sookie entered the kitchen. Chow was standing beside her with arms crossed. "He seemed nervous,"

"Did you ask him why?"

"Yes, but he did not answer."

"Poor boy," Sookie sat down. "I should have never taken him here,"

"He called Godric before he went to bed," Pam said. "He wanted to go to Dallas to see him,"

"What?"

"What did Godric say?" asked Eric.

"He said that James should listen to whatever you say, Sookie," Said Pam. "But he will come here at any time James asks him to,"

Thank god, that Godric had said that. Otherwise, Sookie did not know what to say if James asked the question.

"Maybe we should go to Dallas," Eric sat down beside Sookie. "We can ask around about the Beaumont Werewolves,"

Maybe it would be a good idea. James could stay there with Godric. Nobody would dare to even touch his hair if he was with Godric.

"Boss," Chow said. "…about the things that I had collected from Alcide's car."

"Yes?"

"The offices are closed in the night, Boss," Chow said. "They always told me to come back in the morning,"

"Can't you not force them to give you any answer?" asked Pam.

"Yeah, I can. But if I don't know what to look for, what shall I do?"

"It means I have to do it," slowly Sookie got up.

Eric held her hand. "Let others do it for you," he said.

"No, Eric," Sookie said. "I don't depend on others when it's about James." Then she walked to the stairs. She had an urge feeling to see him, to make sure that everything was fine with him.

Suddenly Eric was beside her, and with one leap, he took her to James' room.

That boy buried himself under the blanket. Sookie could only see his hair peeping out of the blanket. She wanted to remove the blanket to see his face, but Eric stopped her.

"Let him sleep," he whispered. "He needs it, and so do you."

They went downstairs to Aude's room. Sookie tried to tell herself to call that room main bedroom or her room, but she was not able to, at least not yet. When Eric was leaving the room, he wanted to talk to Pam and Chow, he said, Sookie stopped him. She did not want to sleep alone, not tonight. She held him tight and whispered, "Sleep with me. Make me forget our conversation with Simon, my worries about James, everything. Make me forget everything. Just take me,"

"Careful with what you wish for," his voice was husky. "You have no idea what I am capable of,"

'Click', his fangs were out, the next thing Sookie remembered was his jacket flew across the room, and as soon as his lips locked hers, even the bed where they were on was felt like a distance memory.

**********

Sookie decided to take James to the town. She wanted to go to the Sheriff office and followed up the leads from Chow. Perhaps, during that time, she could talk to him about what Simon said and what he thought about it.

Sookie did not feel comfortable to leave James behind, although she knew that the werewolves would protect him. For the moment, she did not trust anybody, not even Jason. Jason was a half-breed now, she did not know what the weres could do to him or if the relationship between the biter and the bitten weres were the same with the maker and the child vampires or not. She did not want to leave James with Sam either, knowing that he and Alcide had marked James as their 'cub'.

She did not want to take any risk.

She had left a note for Eric,

_Dear Eric,_

_I am following Chow's clues and taking James with me. I don't know when I will return or if I will return today. If not, we will sleep at my place._

_Yours,_

_S._

"Where are we going, Mom?" James asked.

"First, we are going to Sheriff Office and then we can look around. I mean, if you want to stay here, you should know about the town a little bit, don't you?"

"I guess," he said. "I thought we would only drive around,"

'Well, we will drive around."

"Yeah, I just didn't think that we would go to Sheriff Office,"

"Why?"

"You wear jeans and open your hair," James said. "It's just not you, but I like it. You don't look like one of my teachers anymore,"

Today Sookie wore jeans and blouse and not her business-like as usual, that was true. She just thought it would be better if she visited Andy in less formal clothing. It attracted less attention than if she had worn her business suit. She let her hair open because she simply had no time to wait until it dried.

She had waked up late, like the other days. By the time she had finished washing her hair today, the needles on the clock had pointed two o'clock in the afternoon. Eric had not given her a chance to have a break last night, not that she was complaining. She had asked for it. She did not know when Eric had stopped or if he had stopped. She did not even remember when she had fallen asleep, she just did. Perhaps when he covered her body with his kisses and touches or perhaps soon after he had made her screaming whilst reaching another peak of orgasm.

"I like changing, you know,"

"Yeah, right," James smiled.

"What?"

"Nothing," His smile was wider.

"Oh, come on. Be fair with me,"

James looked at her. His striking blue eyes penetrated hers like what Eric's did from time to time. "How many jeans do you have?"

"Let me count," Sookie said. Hmh…."Three,"

"You see jeans is the most common clothing that almost everybody wears, but it is like an alien to you. All my trousers are jeans. Even Papa has a collection of jeans and he is like one thousand years old! But you, you always wear skirts never jeans. Not even a normal trousers, like many other women. I can count with fingers how many times you wear jeans, in a year!"

"You had been definitely hanging around with Lafayette too long!" Sookie smiled. She did not know that James paid attention to her wardrobe. "How do you know that Eric has a collection of jeans?"

"I opened your closets," he said. "Oh, come on, Mom!" his face was blushing, when he saw her eyes were widening. "I was curious. I thought he might have warrior stuffs! You know; like helmets or swords."

Sookie snorted. "Probably, centuries ago."

Eric was the craziest person she had ever known when it came to shoes. Well, second craziest, after Lafayette, but she never imagined that Eric would run around with helmet and sword.

"It's not common for a boy to comment his mom's cloths, you know," Sookie said.

"One day I will have a girlfriend," his face was again blushing when he said it. "I think she would like to hear compliments from time to time,"

"I think too, but I hope not too soon,"

"What?"

"You, having a girlfriend,"

James did not say anything; in fact, he even turned his face away.

What? He had an eye on a girl already?

The Sheriff Office was like the last time Sookie had seen it. Some faces and names were familiar to Sookie and the rest was new, including the girl who worked as receptionist. She wanted to tell her that because of her carelessness in work, she had almost lost her son. And if she ever lay her hands on her friend, she would strangle that woman for making a joke on the expense of somebody's else life!

Andy's chubby face greeted her with his big smile.

"Hi, Sook." He said, shaking James' hand. "You're James, right? I heard a lot about you, from Terry,"

Andy took them to his office. "What can I do for you, folk?"

Sookie told Andy what happened that night in Bon Temps wood. She skipped the bullet sucking the flying and the killing parts; and gave Andy the gun, the bullet and the bloody handprint.

"I know it is impossible what I am going to ask you, but I do hope you can keep this between us, Andy."

"Sookie, this is an attempted murder," he said, looking at the evidence thoughtfully. "This is a Federal crime; I can't sweep it under the rug,"

"I know, just keep it between us until we are sure with the situation. Look, you have enough things on your plates now, all those murders and then this. I don't ask you not to look into it; I just want you to inform us if you have any information about what happened,"

Andy leaned on the chair. "Did Jason know about this?"

Sookie shook her head.

"Why?" Andy and James asked at the same time.

"You don't tell Uncle Jason about this?"

Sookie could not answer. James knew that Jason was a weretiger, but Andy did not.

"Look, Sook. Jason is a different man now, well, at least I don't get report about bar fights that involve him any more. Maybe you should give him a chance," Andy said, taking the evidence and put them in the lowest drawer of his desk. "I'll try to look into it, but I don't promise anything. My hands are tied for the moment; I will have difficulties to spare some time, but I'll do my best," he said. "And if I were you, I would ask Sam Merlotte for a help. He's still the best detective around, just in case you forget,"

"I'll remember that, Andy,"

As Sookie and James were saying goodbye to Andy, Det. Luna entered the office. She had an order in her hand and was going to say something to Andy when her eyes met Sookie's. This time her head was empty from cursing words. In fact, she was not saying any word in her head. That was strange.

"Miss Stackhouse," she greeted her, coldly.

"Detective Luna," Sookie said also coldly.

Then they were standing there facing each other for a couple minutes without taking. Sookie heard Det. Luna speaking in her head, _Hmh, that smells good,_ but she was not sure to whom she had addressed that sentence.

The silence was finally broken when Andy said that he would contact them as soon as possible.

Sookie went out without saying a word. James followed her quietly, almost invisibly.

********

After showing James his future school, a small theatre, which showed very out of date movies, some cafés besides Lafayatte's, Sookie took him to a place she loved the most. She could even call it her sanctuary: The Statue of Bill Compton.

Funny how different this statue looked now. It looked neither impressive nor intimidating. It looked like any other statues, grey and ordinary. There's nothing special around this statue, like special carvings or ornament. It was just a plain, soldier statue.

"Is this a statue of Bill?" James asked.

Sookie nodded.

"Don't they know that Bill was a vampire?"

"Apparently they did not know," she said. "I have to say, he's a very good tracker. He can find anything if you give him enough time."

James sat down beside her. "You think he can find whoever shot us?"

Why hadn't she thought of that? Bill could surely find them!

"Mom…"

"Yes, James?"

"You can read people's mind, right? Is it comfortable for you or do you feel like you hear things you should have not?"

"Occasionally," Sookie said. "I never really felt comfortable with it when I was younger. I tried to avoid making contact with people because I didn't want to hear what they were thinking about me. It's not very easy, you know. Many times people thought different from what they actually said and they were more honest inside their heads because they were not afraid if somebody might hear it."

"But you work as a lawyer. You meet people."

"Not exactly. I worked as a researcher for Aunt Arlene when I was younger. I almost had no contact with people, only papers, well except Sam Merlotte. He was our connection to the real world, you know."

"How did you know Papa?"

"He was my first case and my last. I was asked by his wife to take care of their divorcement process. She did not want to have Aunt Arlene or anybody else, she wanted me."

"She had matched you and Papa up?" James asked. His eyes were widening.

"Something like that, yeah." Sookie said. "Actually at the beginning, I did not like your father at all. I thought he was trying to kill Aude to get all her money. You know, younger man with such an old woman, but I was wrong because Eric was the one who owned all the money and property. He really loved her," Somehow, Sookie believed that Eric loved Aude still. "After dealing with his divorcement, I have never taken another divorcement case. I focus myself on property law,"

"How was it?"

"The divorcement?"

"No, your mind reading ability," James said. "You've had it since you were a child, right?"

"Yes,"

"You still have it, right?"

Sookie nodded. "It was gone for fifteen years and has returned since a month ago," she smiled. "Don't worry, James. You're grown up normally, without a mother who knew everything you thought, until recently," Then Sookie added hastily, as she saw James protesting, "That if you let me read your mind,"

"How did you control it or how do you control it? You can't run around listening what people think, can you? Otherwise, you will never know if what you're hearing is what they are saying or what they are thinking. Besides, you will never have peace,"

"Focus and concentration," Sookie said. "I try to look at people straight into their eyes and focus on them. It's hard, but if you live your whole life like that it's getting easier day by day,"

"Can you also hear what the vampires or any other supernatural beings think?"

"I can hear what the weres or shifters think but not so clearly, but thank god that I cannot hear what the vampires think. Can you imagine what your father or The Queen think? I give everything in this world not to hear them, if you know what I mean,"

Well, that was not entirely true. There were times when she really wished she could hear what Eric thought.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," James said in a low voice. He bit his pinkie and then said, "Do you feel awkward or strange? Do people think that you are crazy?"

"In the beginning, yes. But then I got used to it," Sookie touched his hair. "Don't worry; I don't go inside your head, if that's what you want to know,"

_Thank God, _he thought, but he smiled. "Thanks, Mom."

Her mobile phone rang.

"Hallo?"

"Sookie, this is Alcide. Where are you now?"

"I am around the cemetery in Bon Temps."

"Alone?"

"With James, why?"

"I'll send somebody to pick you both up," he said.

"No, Alcide. Just tell me what you want and where you want me to go," Sookie said. James' eyebrow was lifted as he heard how stern her voice was.

There was silence, and then, "Can you come to Bon Nuit Hotel, please," his voice was choked, "There's somebody I want you to meet,"

***************

Hotel Bon Nuit was located on the rand of Bon Temps not so far from the highway that led to Shreveport. The hotel seemed like to be built on a wrong ground. Sookie could not see anything within miles, but dust and highway.

It seemed like this particular hotel never had guests or the owner of the hotel was too lazy to clean and repair it. The desk was covered by thick dust that Sookie could draw something on it, the fans were broken and there were brown stains here and there.

"Room 123, hah?" the big man behind the counter grinned. "You folks want to have a party or something? Well, keep it down, will you? I don't want no police sniffing their nosy noses around my hotel,"

Sookie did not think that they wanted to do it either.

He looked at James suspiciously, but he did not say anything. Walking away, he murmured. "They are getting younger and younger each year."

Alcide's face looked tired as he opened the door. "Come in, please," he said.

Sookie and James entered the room. The room was not big. There was only a bed, a table, a chair and a door, which Sookie believed led to the bathroom.

"Sookie, you knew Colin," Alcide said, pointing at a man, who sat on the bed. He was one of the Beaumont werewolves who came to Northman Mansion the other day.

Colin nodded at Sookie, but his attention was clearly on James. He sniffed and then grinned. His teeth were pointed and his canine teeth looked big, bigger than Alcide's.

Sookie's skin crawled. As far as she remembered, Colin looked quite a bit normal when he had been at the mansion. Why did he look more like a wolf than a man now?

"And this is James, Sookie's son," Alcide said to Colin.

Colin slowly got up. He was some inches taller than James, but shorter than Alcide. His shoulder was broad; his arms were strong. He walked around James and then reached out his hand. "I don't know you have such a son, Sookie," he said, with eyes on Alcide.

_Damn that marking!_

Sookie cursed Alcide. Colin recognized Alcide's scent on James.

"He's not yet coming age, Colin." Alcide said.

Whatever that meant, it did not sound so good to either Sookie or James. Both of them were offended. James was offended because he was being taken as a child, and Sookie was offended because Alcide acted as if he had been James' real father.

Colin snorted. "I can see that Young James doesn't agree," he said, circling James. "You should come to the Square Stone next full moon, Young James. The earlier you learn the better."

"Maybe I should," James stared back at him.

Colin laughed. "I know you would,"

"Why did you ask me to come, Alcide?" Sookie asked. She really did not have the lust to stay at this dirty hotel any longer, especially not when a werewolf eyeballed James as if he was thinking the best way to take advantage of him, whilst the other werewolf smiled at her as if he had won something.

"Colin has something that he wants to show you,"

That Beaumont werewolf went to his bed, took a travelling bag under the bed and took out a Rubik's cube. "I received this cube three days ago. It was from my brother, Jake." He said. "My brother and I have some kind of a code, if one of us wants to inform the other, we write the message on a Rubik's cube, and cover the cube with colour paper. He wrote a message all right: The name of this hotel and this room number. He got a habit to hide the things that he considered important behind the toilet's water tank, so I looked for it there and I found a key and the number of his deposit box in Shreveport Bank. I went there yesterday and I got this," he took out a big rolled piece of paper. Carefully he unrolled the paper. "I know that it is some kind of blueprint of a building, but I don't know what or where. Jake must have been stole it." He looked at Sookie. "I had made some copies of it. You will have one of them, and so does Alcide. We have to find out what kind of building it is, where and for what. This building means a lot, otherwise Jake would not steal it,"

He took out a folded piece of paper and gave it to Sookie. "You have the means and the power to do it, Sookie. Please, help us. I will be in your debt and mercy." He put his hand under his vest and with one snatch; he pulled his necklace. He grabbed James' hand and put that necklace on James' hand.

"Colin…" Alcide said. "Think twice, Brother. It can't be reversed,"

"What can't be reversed?" Sookie asked.

"My clan is dying, Alcide. If we are meant to be vanished from this world, at least there is still somebody who can wear its name." Colin bit his hand which was holding James' hand and let his blood cover his and James' hand. "James Stackhouse, do you accept this necklace and be my brother?"

James looked at Sookie. "Mom, what is he doing?"

Sookie looked at him and then at Alcide. "Alcide?"

"Colin, he's still too young for this," Alcide said.

"Alcide, answer me!"

Alcide took a deep breath. His voice was growling as he said, "Colin is asking James to join his clan and be his blood brother. James will be protected by his clan as James has the duty to protect Colin's clan. James can be elected as the leader of his clan, as he is being chosen by the leader of The Grey Hound of Beaumont,"

James looked at Colin. Sookie could see James was thinking of something. His eyes were narrowing and they looked more and more determined. He turned around and smiled at Sookie. _This is for Uncle Jason, Mom. _He said in his head. _And his child._

"No, James!" Sookie said, but it was too late.

"Will you accept my family as the members of the Grey Hound?" James asked. "My uncle is a werepanther. Will he be protected by the Grey Hound?"

"As he will protect the clan, he will be protected by the clan,"

"Then I accept," he looked at Alcide. "Do I have to cut my hand too so our blood is mixed?"

"Not necessarily, James," Colin said. "Your word is enough. And the blood that covers the necklace will spread the word faster than you think." He released his grip and helped James putting the necklace around his neck. "Now, I can focus myself on the search," he said. "I've done my duty for my clan to find my replacement," he smiled widely. "A member of the Long Tooth becomes a member of The Grey Hound. What an honour indeed," he nodded at Alcide. "You will not be sorry for having such a son, Alcide,"

Alcide looked at James. His face was hard and his green eyes were flickering. "No, I won't," But his head said, _I am sorry, Sookie. _

Sookie felt her eyes were getting heavier. She tried with all her might not to cry in front of them. Eric. She did not know how to tell Eric. Her skin crawled. And she did not want to know or see Eric's reaction when he heard the news.

Outside the sun slowly set. Red colour was spreading like fire. The black cloud which was hanging, blocking the sun made the night seemed to come earlier.

Sookie looked at James who was asking Colin the meaning of the necklace, and without being able to help herself, she shuddered. She knew Eric was not going to accept this easily. She just hoped James could prevent any bloodshed between Alcide and Eric, which Sookie believed would be taken place sooner or later. Knowing Eric, it would not be easy and she did not expected it would be.

**************


	17. The Deadly Bloodline

**Author's Note: To Ericsmine. **

Sixteen

**The Deadly Bloodline  
**

"Don't worry, Mom," James said. "I am all right,"

James looked stern and determined under the fading light of the sun. Maybe it was in Sookie's eyes only, but he looked twice older in just an hour. The blood bond that he had just made with Colin Purefoy seemed to give him many thoughts. Sookie would have been inside his head already if only she had not given her word to James that she would never do it.

"It is a big responsibility to be a blood brother of a leader of a clan, James," Alcide said. He was driving them back to Sookie's house. "If Colin is not able to perform his duty as a leader and he has no brother or children, you have to step in. Colin's brother is missing and he has no children. I don't pray or hope bad things to happen to Colin, but you might have to take that responsibility one day,"

"I didn't know that. I accepted it because I thought if I was a member of a werewolf clan, I could help Uncle Jason somehow,"James said. "He is a loner, Mom. I don't like seeing him running around with sad face every full moon,"

Sookie turned around to look at him. "I will make sure that your uncle will not forget that," she said.

"If I become the leader of the Grey Hound clan, do you think I can choose anybody I like to be my vice?"

"Since you are still a minor, you will be helped or represented by the older member of the clan. The members who represent you will be voted by the rest of the clan members, but yes, you can recommend somebody,"

"Cool. I can recommend Uncle Jason. He's good in shooting and martial art,"

Alcide smiled. "How old are you now?"

"Fourteen and five months,"

Nobody above thirty years old will count the number of months she or he has, but if you are not reaching seventeen yet, every minute matters. James was not an exception. Like many other youngsters, he was not patient enough to be an adult. If he could, he wanted to be an adult: Now.

"In seven months you will have the same rights like the older members of your clan,"

"Fifteen years old?!" Sookie looked at Alcide. "You are already considered as an adult with fifteen years old?"

Alcide nodded. "We grow older faster than the normal human do, Sookie and we don't reach old age,"

"Why?" James asked.

"Living dangerously," Alcide said, his face was thoughtful. "It's not easy if every month you go to the woods and meet a lot of 'interesting' people." He gave the word interesting a special tune. Things can get out of hands sometimes,"

"I don't have to go the woods every month, do I?"

"No. Except if you can transform,"

"Yeah, right," James folded his arms. Suddenly he smiled. ""Do I have to go to Beaumont? If I have to move to Beaumont, I will be closer to Godric,"

"Young man," Sookie returned to her previous position. "If you think Godric has a say about your education, you are terribly wrong,"

"He can make him,"

"Then, you don't know him,"

Alcide's eyebrow met. "Whom are you guys talking about?"

"Godric," said James and Sookie at the same time.

"Yeah, I know, but there's another person you guys kept on mentioning,"

"My father," James said lightly.

Sookie felt her heart missing a beat. This was the first time James ever talked about Eric to somebody else, and he did it as if it was nothing.

_His father...I know...._Alcide thought. Sookie did not catch it clearly, but he had used a questioning tone in his sentence. She hoped that he did not make any connection between Godric and James' father.

"I think your father will not be so happy about your decision, if he ever finds out about it," Alcide said. He was damn right about that. Eric would be more than 'not so happy'. Sookie prayed that she or James would manage to talk to Eric. "Heh, I never know anybody else who's willing to accept werewolves in their houses, except your mother,"

James did not say anything. From the rear-view mirror, Sookie could see he was biting his pinkie. He was thinking hard. Sookie forced herself to ignore him and concentrated on the road in front of them.

"Have you made up your mind about your school, James?" Alcide asked, changing the subject. "There are some nice schools in Shreveport too, you know, just in case you don't want to go to school here,"

"Shreveport is cool," James said. "Fangtasia is in Shreveport..."

"Out of the question," Sookie cut him. "No bars or night clubs before 18. Leader of the pack or not, you are still my son. You follow my rule. Period."

"You have a strict mom, James," Alcide smiled. "But I agree with her and I don't think Eric or Pam will let you enter the bar anyway,"

"Where does Colin stay, Alcide?" James asked, changing the subject. "He doesn't stay in that hotel forever, does he?"

"I don't think so. Why?"

"I want to know more about the Grey Hound," James said. "I am one of them now; it will be lame if I don't know anything about them, but I don't want to go to that creepy hotel again. Not to mention that _Mom will not let me,"_ James gave a very cynical tune on the last sentence.

"You still have time to learn about them," Alcide said. "I'll ask him to send you some books to read or you can visit my father from time to time. He will be very happy to tell you some stories,"

"I don't have to call your father 'Grandfather', do I?" James turned his face away. "I have one of my own,"

Alcide cleared his throat. It was clear that James' direct way of speaking made him feel uncomfortable. "No, you don't. But still, he will be very pleased to have you around,"

James murmured, "I'll think about it," Then he was quiet for the rest of the journey.

When they arrived at Sookie's house, James jumped out of the car. "I have to go to pee," he said.

Sookie threw the keys to him. "Put the kettle on the stove, James. I need some coffee,"

James caught the keys and ran.

Sookie looked at Alcide. "We have to talk, Alcide,"

"I am listening,"

"It can't go on like this, Alcide." She said. "Maybe I am wrong, but I have a feeling that you are keeping something away from me. I keep telling myself that it is not true; that your only concern is the murders of your people, but the more I got myself into, the more I believe that this is not only about the murders of your people, is it?

I know that you knew something about James that I don't and you did not tell me. It's about the time that you level with me, Alcide, if you want me to continue helping you. What did Simon tell you?"

"Simon is not himself any more, Sookie. He is in the passing realm, we can't be certain that he is telling the truth,"

"I _know_ when somebody is telling the truth or not, Alcide. You know that I can read minds," Sookie said. It was not entirely true because she could not read Simon's mind any more, but Alcide did not know that and he did not need to know.

"He said that he heard voices and he followed those voices," Alcide said. "…which led him to you and James. It was as if somebody was sending a beacon to him to find his road to this person. The strange thing is that he heard it more clearly in the nighttime than in the daytime. Had you ever heard something like that?"

"Tom Rodney said that he also heard voices that came only in the dark," Sookie said. "Do you think that they heard the same voices?"

"I don't know. Sam is still searching information about Rodney, but he doesn't give me any information yet. That was all what Simon said to me, Sookie. You can go inside my head if you want to, you will know that I am not lying,"

Sookie sighed. She had no other choice, but to trust Alcide at least for the moment. "You should have told me earlier," she said. "I hate to grow suspicious of my friends,"

"I apologize," Alcide said. "There are no excuses for my behaviour. James is your son; you have the rights to know everything that concerns him,"

"About that. How long do you think you can fool everybody by pretending that you are James' father? You are not his father and you know it. I don't know how you did it, but I don't think that the werewolves are fools whom you can trick easily,"

"You are right, they are not fools," Alcide answered with a smile on his face. "I am an acting leader of my clan, Sookie. My father is weak. He is still the leader of the clan, whose voice will be heard by any member of Long Tooth, but physically he cannot do much anymore. Therefore, he had given me a part of his power. One of them is the power to mark our territory, included to mark any person I want to be the member of the clan," he opened his hands and showed Sookie his palms. Both of them were gleaming under the lights. "Every leader of the werewolves has this power. Are you familiar with the 'alpha male' term?"

"A man's man?"

Alcide laughed. Sookie never heard Alcide laughing. It sounded deep and resonant. "No, not exactly like that. In werewolves community; an alpha male means a male werewolf that other members submit to and follow and that takes priority in mating with females," he smiled. "I am the alpha male in my clan for the moment. I am not that good in taking priority in mating with females (he gave Sookie his brilliant smile that in other circumstances might make her blushing), but I am very good in marking my territory.

And I had marked James with that power, Sookie. It will stay for three full moons and I will do it again before my marking is fading away."

"He is not your son, Alcide. Sooner or later every werewolf will find out. Colin will find out! As soon as your marking disappeared, he will be an easy target for any werewolf! Especially now, that he becomes Colin's blood brother! Three months are not a long time!"

"Some werewolves can't have children, Sookie. Like you human, we also know the term of adoption, but we do it in different way. Our way is by marking the child we want. It is a common practice in our world. Different from the human, we don't need to ask permission. We only have to make sure that the child doesn't have parents or one of the parents anymore.

I know that three months are not a long time, but before the three-month period is over, James will be fully accepted as my son. Besides, Colin knew, Sookie. Like any other werewolf, he has the same marking glands on his hands and he has a fine nose. He can tell that James was marked and doesn't carry my blood. Every werewolf knows that too."

"But why did he choose him, had he known about it?"

Alcide took a deep breath. "The same reason why I marked him,"

"Which is?"

"He carries your blood and his father's blood. Whoever he is, his blood is old and strong, much stronger and older than yours,"

"I don't understand,"

"Neither do I. I smelt it first when I came to the mansion a month ago. Eric had called me. I didn't believe what I heard because like many others I believed that he had died in that cafe," Alcide said. "I had to believe because I was one of those who witnessed it, but I recognized his voice. As soon as I entered the house, I recognized your smell," his eyes were soft when he said it, "It's not that difficult to recognize the smell you love, you know. Then, I caught another smell. A very strong smell that intoxicated me, made almost not able to use my other senses. The smell had weakened me because I felt more like a dog than a wolf at that time. First, I had been terrified. The only time that I was helpless like that was when we were fighting against Tara and Wilson. Then, I realized it was different this time. The scent was not overpowering me, but soothing and calming me down. I just thought if that person, whoever he or she was, was in the room at the very moment and ordered me to his or her wish, I would do it gladly. The second time I caught that smell was when we saw each other at Fangtasia. My father and I realized there was something about James that neither of us could explain. His aura was very strong that if I had not stopped my father in time, he would have transformed into a wolf.

Something in his blood attracts every werewolf or maybe even vampire, Sookie. Whoever his father is or was, James carries a deadly bloodline. He has to be protected,"

"By claiming him as your son will not make the things easier, Alcide. Now he is also a member of Grey Hound. He will be drawn deeper and deeper into problems, which are not his. He is just a boy, for Christ's sake! He is only fourteen! He is not a solution to your problem! He is a boy, who still needs time for himself to grow up! I will not let him solve your problem or become the solution of your problems!"

"What do you have in mind, Sookie?"

"I don't know, but leaving this country would not be an unthinkable option anymore,"

"And you think that there is no vampire or werewolf in other countries? Or maybe even other supernatural beings which probably will not always be so kind to him?"

Sookie covered her mouth with her hand. Alcide had a point.

"He is being protected by two clans, now. And if Godric is his friend; he _is_ well protected,"

"The way your clan protects you or your clan's weaker members? Somebody has tried to kill you, Alcide. How can you be so sure that they will not do the same to James?"

Alcide was silence. His green eyes were slowly getting sterner. Then, he said, "Marry me, Sookie."

Sookie was taken aback. She had some imaginations about marriage proposal, but not like this. Being proposed in the car, whilst the conversation about her son's safety.

"This way, I can protect you and James according to the clan rules. The one who kills me has to provide the life of my wife and children, if my children are not yet able to support themselves," he looked at Sookie. His eyes were flickering. "You know that I like you a lot. I will be a good husband if you let me,"

"Alcide..."

"There will be no attachment," Alcide said. "You are free to do what you want to do. We don't even have to share the same room. You only have to wear my name and carry my symbol so that the werewolves' community knows that you are my wife,"

Sookie's chest was heavy. This was too fast and unexpected. She liked Alcide too and she could tell from his behaviour that Alcide liked her. Alcide was a serious man, he would not ask her to marry him if he did not mean to, for whatever reasons.

"I love you, Sookie," Alcide said, his voice was low. "I've been in love with you since the first day I saw you. Maybe that was the reason I could not continue my engagement with Debbie, or with any other women,"

Sookie raised her head. "You never showed it. You did not even try to contact me for the last fifteen years,"

"I have duties to attend to, Sookie. My obligation to my family and my clan come first. You could not imagine how much I wanted to move out to Baton Rouge to get close to you. The only thing that I could do was going to Baton Rouge from time to time to see you, to make sure that you were all right, when I had time. Sadly, you shut down every contact to people from Bon Temps, perhaps except Lafayette and Joseph; and I was too stupid and too coward to make an initial move. I realize now that I should have done it long time ago," his eyes were trailing on her neck. "Northman seemed not to waste his time,"

Yes, she had done that. It might have been a foolish thing to do, but she believed it had been the right thing to do. She would have not been able to go on with her life if she had stayed in Bon Temps or had anything to do with the people of Bon Temps. She believed the memory of Eric and the things that had happened between them would have haunted her. Now that she had found Eric again, being with him again...she looked at Alcide. Eric might have never offered the same thing that Alcide was offering now, security and commitment; he might have not loved her either, but she knew, whatever she had tried to do in the last fifteen years, it did not work every time Eric was around. The memory that she had tried to push away came like flood and washed her away.

"I know that you don't expect this," Alcide said. "I just don't want to be late again,"

"Alcide...I am honoured, really," Sookie said. "But..."

"It's James' father, isn't it? You can't forget him,"

"No, I can't."

"I don't want to replace him, I just want to be by your and James' side," Alcide said, smiling weakly. "It's a poor excuse, isn't it?"

Sookie smiled, "Somehow, yeah."

"Lucky bastard," Alcide said. "You love him still,"

"Yeah, I do," Sookie said. If Eric heard this, she believed, a smirk would be all over his face.

Alcide touched her hand. "Just think about it, okay? You know how I feel; I will not hide it anymore." He smiled. "Who knows, I might get lucky and grow on you?"

Sookie opened the door. "Bye, Alcide,"

"I'll call you tomorrow," Alcide said. "Or you call me if you have any idea about the blueprint."

"I will,"

"By the way, if Colin's people start approaching James, don't get panicked. They can be rough and rude sometimes, but they are good people," he started the car.

Oh, as if she had not enough problems already!

Slowly the car moved. "Jack will bring your car tomorrow. Au revoir, Sook!"

Sookie walked towards her house. The lights were on already. James must have switched them on. She needed her coffee, she needed her bath tube and drowned herself in it and she was not sure if she wanted to get out again, if she did not see James through the window talking in the phone, smiling and laughing. She could not hear with whom he was talking, but she appreciated that person very much for giving good mood and laughter to James.

She caught some Swedish words as she was opening the door. The person on the other line must have been Godric or Pam; or maybe Eric.

Suddenly the sweet smell of jasmine reached her nose. Sookie turned around and hoped to find Eric standing there on the porch. She sighed when she saw nothing, but darkness that was creeping, covering the yard in front of her house. She looked up at the sky and desperately wished seeing Eric flying, but like the yard, the sky was as dark as James' hair. The difference was James' hair shone and bright; the sky was dark like a pitch hole. Not even a star could be seen.

Sookie entered the house and closed the door.

James hung up the phone. His face was bright. "Godric said I can come over to Dallas at any time I want. And you should come with me too,"

************


	18. Welcome, Brother!

Seventeen

**Welcome, Brother!  
**

Alcide called around ten o'clock in the morning.

"There's something come up," his voice sounded sad. "Simon had passed away last night. We had to do it, Sookie. It was his wish,"

They had killed Simon Black. The transformation must have been completed; he became what Eric called 'a half-life' and Simon did not want it.

"We will have three days of mourning," Alcide continued. "My sister and her children will return to the Haven. If you wish to return to the Mansion tonight, I will ask two or three men to stay behind,"

"No, Alcide. I won't return tonight. I have things that I want to do in town. What did Eric say?"

"He said, it's all up to you. He doesn't need any protection from werewolves,"

Sookie wanted to ask if Eric had said anything else, but she changed her mind. Instead she asked when the funeral would be held.

"In four days,"

Sam came by in the noon to bring Sookie's car. Jack could not do it, he said. He had to stay with the rest of the clan members, mourning for Simon. His face looked thoughtful when he saw James' necklace.

James said 'hi' and asked if Sam was willing to drive them back to the mansion. He woke up late this morning. He had not enough sleep, he said. He really wanted to go back to the mansion, he said. He did not like sleeping on the couch. Besides, his laptop was left there. He wanted to start searching about wolves.

"It depends on your mother, James," said Sam. "But there's something I want to talk to her first,"

"Why don't you go and take a shower, James," Sookie said. "We can talk about it, later," Then, she took Sam to the kitchen.

"The Grey Hound clan," he said quietly. "The dying clan,"

"Why are they called like that?" Sookie asked.

"You heard what Colin said in the meeting. They are practically in-breed. They got married among the close relatives and the result was their new born babies were either cripple or die very young,"

"James is not a werewolf," Sookie said. "He can't give them fresh blood,"

"No, but the people that he will bring with him will do," Sam said.

"What people?"

"First, he will certainly bring Jason in. You know your brother and his reputation among women." Sam smiled, mockingly. "The Grey Hound will have new members in no time as soon as the word is spread that Jason Stackhouse officially becomes their member."

"Oh, come on. That's not true. If he is so famous, why is there no werewolf clan, which is willing to accept him?"

"Maybe Jason did not want to enter any clan," Sam said. "And secondly, not every male werewolf is confident enough to be around Jason,"

Sookie grinned. That's more likely. "The other reasons?"

"If he is like his uncle – I hope not, he will bring some girls of his own to the clan. Besides, he has you. Many werewolves are curious about you, you know. If they know that your son has joined the Grey Hound, they will certainly be interesting in the clan,"

"Curious about me? Why?"

"Alcide asked you for a help, didn't he? It's a very rare case that a werewolf asks a human to help him and especially if the werewolf is Alcide Herveaux of The Long Tooth Clan. The werewolves' community look up to him and he is one of the strong candidate to be the chairman of The Werewolves' Council. They want to know why he believes in you so much,"

"He knows that I won't be alone," Sookie said. "Eric will have my back,"

"I hope so. He is so unpredictable, I would not trust him completely, if I were you,"

Sam never liked Eric. He never pretended that he did either. Sookie wondered what Sam would react if he knew that Eric was James' father.

"How do you feel?" Sam looked at her. His big brown eyes were soft and warm. "Are you okay with his decision to join a werewolf clan?"

All the feelings that she had been trying to hide since last night, the feeling of being a bad mother who was not able to protect her own son, of being useless and most of all of being coward not to be brave enough to stop James from making such a big decision without consulting her first erupted. Tears fell on her cheek like rain, her chest was heavy and her nose was painful.

"Hey, hey..." Sam took her in his arms. "Ssst...everything is going to be fine, Sookie,"

"I feel...like...." Sookie sobbed. "...like a bad mother...:

"That's ridiculous," Sam said, kissing her head. "James is a good boy. He is polite, very helpful and honest. He is very determined for a boy in his age, but I think it's all right, considering that he has a stubborn woman as his mother,"

Sookie released herself from Sam's arms. "I made your shirt wet," she touched the shirt.

"Yeah, a bit," he took some Kleenex and gave them to Sookie.

"Thanks," she accepted the tissue and wiped off her tears. "What do you think will happen to James, Sam?"

"I am not going to lie to you, Sookie. I am a shifter. I don't know much about werewolves except the things that I saw in Alcide's clan. All I can say, they are a tight pack. They help and protect each other. I think The Grey Hound has more or less the same rules and I am sure The Grey Hound will teach James their way and they will help him adjust himself in the clan,"

"Will other clans claim James too?"

"I don't think so," Sam said. "Alcide claimed him and I believe he will defend his territory against anybody. It also means he will defend his claim. Colin invited James to be the member of his clan, it's entirely up to James to accept or to refuse the invitation. Colin didn't claim him as his son, otherwise he had to face Alcide in some kind of arena. I don't think Colin wanted to take that risk. From what I heard, James accepted it right away,"

"He did," Sookie said. "I just think that it is too early for him to accept such a responsibility,"

"Alcide will teach him, Sookie. And so will I," Sam smiled. "Did Eric know about this?"

"No," Sookie could feel how fast her heart suddenly beat. Did Sam know, or did he have somehow an idea who James father was?"Why do you ask?"

"Since you and he are..." Sam swallowed his spit. "...lovers, I just thought he might think of him as his son too,"

"We don't talk about it, yet," Sookie lied. "We don't talk so much," Now she was telling the truth. Mostly they were...using Eric's word...fucking.

Sam's face was red. Clearly he understood what she said and became uncomfortable.

"You said you wanted to talk to me," Sookie tried to change the subject. She did not feel comfortable either, seeing a grown up man having a red face.

"Yeah, right," he said. "My friends in the police department gave me a rough sketch of the knife that has been used in the werewolves' murder cases," he took a piece of paper out of his trousers' pocket. "Ever seen anything like this?"

It was a knife with a half round blade. Nothing special about it, anybody could buy this kind of knife in the market or from the internet.

"It's called a Karambit blade," Sam said. "You see the shape here?" Sam pointed the round shape. "It's like a Tiger Claw, isn't it? I believe, the knife would be some kind of folding knives, which could be carried around without attracting too much attention. From the size of the wound, I would say the length of the blade was around 4 – 5 inches, 6 inches top. And it's from silver. Normal blade will not cause death to werewolves,"

"Even when their throats were cut?"

"Well, let's just say the werewolf would still have a chance to survive if it had been a normal blade,"

"That's pretty scary," Sookie said.

Sam nodded, "Yeah, you can say that again," he said. "So, you've never seen this blade before?"

"I don't think so,"

"What about the blade that had been used by Davydova? Was it not the same?"

"No. As far as I can remember, it was a normal straight blade with some kind of marking on it,"

"I'm a kind of hoping that it has something to do with the faeries," Sam said. "Well, at least you have a direct access to them, if you know what I mean,"

Yeah, she knew what Sam meant, but Sookie had no intention to call any Faeries. "But if the blade is made of silver, then the one who did it can't be a werewolf or a vampire,"

"I never believe that it was a vampire," Sam said. "It doesn't make any sense, you know, especially now that vampires are out in the public. And I think the vampires' community don't want to draw any attention, let alone this kind of attention,"

"I know," Sookie said. "What did Jason say? Did he ever talk about it with you?"

Sam shook his head. "I think he is still unable to accept his condition," he said. "He thinks that it is not his problem. He's there because of you two,"

"After all this time?"

"Some people have to deal with their conditions for the rest of their lives, Sookie. Look at you, you have the ability to listen to people's mind, but how long was it, until you could accept your ability? Or do you still have a guilty feeling that you are able to do it?"

Sookie did not answer. Sam hit the nail on the head, like always. In the last four weeks, she still felt guilty from time to time, when she accidentally heard what the people said in their heads.

"I would not judge you, but I think you'd better make peace with yourself about it, Sook. We all know that it's a gift, a good one, for the name of God, use it! No shame, no guilt, just use it!"

He took Sookie's hand and sighed. "I've been trying to tell you about it the whole time. If only you were willing to use it, you could help a lot of people,"

"I know," Sookie said. If only she could tell herself that. "I just feel that it's unethical,"

"In normal circumstances I would agree, but desperate time needs desperate measure,"

"It's easier said than done, Sam," Sookie said, sighing. "Is there anything else?"

"No, what about you? What did Andy said?"

"Not much," Sookie said. "He showed us some photos of Colin, a man and the Fangtasia murder victim. You think you can talk to Andy about it? That man seems to be important for NIC, otherwise they would not report him to the police,"

"I'll see what I can do," Sam said.

"I'm ready," James' head suddenly popped up. "Can we go now?"

Sam pressed her hand before he let it go."What about if I take both of you to lunch? Are you hungry, James?"

"That's a rhetorical question, Sam," Sookie smiled. "James is always hungry,"

********

Lafayette's café looked more crowded than the usual. There were many faces that Sookie had never seen before. Was it only her feelings or the inhabitants of Bon Temps had been doubled lately?

"You are killing me," Lafayette said, almost screaming. "Two weeks! There's no call, no text and not even little message brought by one of your dogs! You are killing me!"

Joseph shook Sam's hand. "He's always a little bit melodramatic, isn't he?" he hugged Sookie. "Hallo, Sweetheart," he let Sookie go and messed James' hair.

"Hallo, Laffy," Sookie opened her arms.

"Oh..." Lafayette fought back his tears and hugged her. "You have to tell me everything, especially the juicy parts," he said. "You're not only good in breaking men's hearts, you're also good in breaking old girls' hearts like mine," she let Sookie go and wanted to hug James when he saw the necklace. "Oh, from where did you get such an effing ugly necklace?" he wanted to touch it, but James stopped it.

"Only if you make me some Mojito" he said,

Lafayette touched James' nose. "You've been staying only for two weeks with that A-hole, and you start manipulating people," he said with a smile on his face.

"Mojito?" Sookie looked at James.

"Oh, don't be so jumpy, Gal," Lafayette said. "It's the virgin one,"

Virgin Mojito – as Lafayette called it, was a Mojito without alcohol: three limes juices, three table spoon of fresh mint leaves and more to decorate; dark sugar, some water and a lot of ice. Sookie was sure, for James, he would put more ice-cubes than the usual one because James liked to eat them. For the real Mojito, Lafayette normally used vodka instead of Rhum. A lot of it. Sookie remembered, she had always a massive hangover after their Mojito nights, which normally started quite harmless; a horror movie night with pop-corn or tortillas chips and then Lafayette said, "What about some Mojito, Girlfriend? I bought some fresh mints this morning," Then the process of having hangover began; one glass of Mojito after the other and ended with one of them fell asleep on the table or on the floor.

Sam asked Sookie and James to sit outside. The weather was fine and fresh, it was a pity if they sat inside.

It was all right for Sookie until she realized that some of the people, who passed by, stopped for a while and stared at James. At first she did not pay attention so much. James was a good looking boy. The older he got, the more he looked like Eric. The resemblance had been stronger when his hair had been blond, but still, he was a handsome young man. It was not unusual if people – especially girls, stared at him.

Sookie remembered, when they were still in Baton Rouge and from time to time they went out for a movie or dinner, some girls giggled and whispered to each other behind their backs. James played cool, acted as if he had not noticed, but his suppressed smile gave him away. Now, with his black hair, his beautiful features were shown more clearly. His eyes were bluer and his lips were redder. Possibly, the black colour enhanced his pale skin and made every other colour brighter.

But this time, it was different. The people who stared at him were mostly men. Most of them looked ragged and rough; wore leather pants and boots. And some of them were walking towards their seats now.

Sookie tried to read their minds, but she could not. Either she was too nervous or there were too many noises around her that were somehow blocking her.

One of the men, big and strong built, wearing leather vest and pants with boots full of metal stuff looked at James from head down to toe. His voice was rough when he said, "You've got Purefoy's necklace, Boy,"

"That's right," James said. His voice was an octave higher than normally. He was nervous. He tried hard to hide it, but not very successful. "I am his brother,"

"So I heard," that man said. "You're not yet coming-age, and yet he had chosen you. Did that son of a bitch - Herveaux, tell him to?"

"No," James answered. "He had done it willingly,"

That man snorted and then he laughed. "Welcome, Brother!" he grabbed James' hand and shook it very hard. "I am Matt Cooper. Colin's brothers are also mine,"

James smiled, nervously. "Thank you," he said.

Matt shook James' hand for some minutes and then turned to Sam. "You, Old dog!" he hit Sam's shoulder. "How are you?!"

Sam forced himself to smile, "Hi, Matt!"

Soon their table was surrounded by five other rough looking men. Sookie had to squeeze herself between Sam and James. They were all members of the Grey Hound. The Hounders, as they called themselves. Colin had called them to come and got to know with their youngest member.

After some rounds of beer and food their table became more and more louder. Lafayette had to ask them to move to a more discreet table due to the attention that they caused. Rough and dishevelled looking men was not exactly a good view for any other ordinary customers.

"_That _is not a good company for my Jim," Lafayette said as Sookie came to him to order another set of meal. The Hounders wanted to have steak, a bloody one, when it's possible. His hands were on his hips.

"They are werewolves, Laffy," Sookie whispered in his ears.

"What?! Listen, Sister. I could understand a lot of things in your life, but not this one. How could you let Jim hang around with werewolves...oh, all right. Alcide is also a werewolf, but at least we know him. Who are they?"

"They are from the Grey Hound Clan of Beaumont," Sookie said. "I'll tell you all about it later, Laffy. Now, I have to go back to the table. I don't want to leave him alone with them too long."

As Sookie returned to the table, the eight of them were whispering. Their heads were closed to each other.

"They have information about Tom Rodney," Sam said. "I've been looking for the information on the wrong place,"

"Rodney is a lone wolf," said Cooper. "He came to stay with us some years back, but then he left a year ago. From where did you know him?"

"We've met," Sookie said. "In Baton Rouge,"

"That was the last place we heard from Jake," One of the Hounders said. "Some full-moons ago,"

"What do you mean with a lone wolf?" Sookie asked.

"A werewolf without a clan," said Cooper. "He travels here and there to find the mate or to build a clan of his own. Then, a year ago he called Jake and told him to come to Baton Rouge. He said he had an important news about the rumoured new fake blood. But then, he was disappeared,"

"He was..." Sookie wanted to say 'turned' when Sam said in his head, _Don't tell them. Not now._

Cooper looked at her. "Yes, Ma'am?"

"He was quite nervous about something," Sookie continued. She hated lying, but it was not a lie. It had been the truth. Rodney had been very nervous at that time.

"He seemed to know Alcide," James said.

"Possibly. As a lone wolf he must have been every where," Cooper said. "Bon Temps is not far from Baton Rouge, and from what I hear, Bon Temps is a fertile ground,"

From the way Cooper said it, Sookie could imagine what he meant. Women. There were a lot of women in Bon Temps, werewolves or human.

"Where is Colin?" James asked.

"He returned to Beaumont," Cooper said. "He told me to tell you, Miss Sookie. He's collecting our names now – the pure and the second generation of Grey Hounds. Including the bitten ones," he looked at her with a mix stares of understanding and being disgusted by it, "I am an old soul and I loathe the idea of asking a vampire for a help, but for my clan's survival, I will do the best I can to help you," he patted James on the shoulder. It was a little bit too hard for James because James shook strongly afterwards. "Now that your son becomes one of us, your and his safety is my priority,"

"Hear, hear!" the other Hounders raised their beer glasses.

"May he mark and claim his territory and his women strongly and clearly wherever he goes and may his children roam the land!"

"Hear, hear!"

Sookie's skin crawled; and it was not because of what Cooper had said, but because of the light in James' eyes. That light reminded her of Eric's eyes when he had asked her to take James out of the room in the palace, before he killed Rodney. Those blue eyes were cold and piercing. Sookie had never seen James' eyes look like that before.

"Then you should stay in my house," James said. His voice was low. He did not sound nervous any more, more than that, he sounded determined. "Make your presence known to the Sheriff of Shreveport,"

"Your wish is my command, Little Brother,"

*****


	19. This Boy is Mine

**Author's Note: Thanks to Vic Vega for all her patience and criticism. Thanks, Luv!**

Eighteen

**This Boy is Mine**

_"Make your presence known to the Sheriff of Shreveport?!" _Sookie yelled at James. "Are you out of your mind?!"

James stared at his feet. He bit his pinkie without daring to look Sookie in the face.

They were in Lafayette's bedroom. James was sitting on the bed and Sookie was pacing backwards and forwards in front of him.

"We are not leaving until you answer my question!"

No answer.

"Look at me!"

Slowly James raised his head. "I don't know, all right?" he said. "It slipped right out of my mouth,"

"Do you have any idea what your father will say to this?!"

"That's it, isn't it? It's very important to you what Papa will say, but it doesn't matter at all what I want and what I think!"

"That's not true! I always ask your opinions!"

"Then why don't you tell everybody who my father is?" James looked at her with tears in his eyes. Those were not tears of fear, but of anger. "If you told everybody, nobody would claim me as their son or brother, as if I was a thing!"

"You could have refused the offer, but you did not do!"

"I did it for Uncle Jason, because nobody cares about him! You never call him, talk to him, invite him to my birthday or your birthday and Lafayette doesn't want to do anything with him either!"

Sookie covered her mouth. James had a point. She had broken all contact to the people of Bon Temps, included Jason.

"What should I do, Mom?" asked James. "They came down from Beaumont looking for me. They are tired and need a place to sleep. I thought, since Alcide's men would not be there, they could use the place for a while. The house belongs to you, right? So I thought I could invite some people whom I like,"

"Yes, it belongs to me, but it also belongs to your father," said Sookie. "We simply can't ignore him and do as we please. There are three of us now. The decision inside our house has to be made by all of us, just like what we did back then in Baton Rouge,"

"He doesn't know that I am a member of a werewolf clan yet, does he?"

"No,"

"What do you think will happen?"

To be honest, Sookie had no idea. There was a mutual antipathy between vampires and werewolves. Sookie did not think that Eric would be happy about the idea that his own son was a member of a werewolf clan.

"Godric said, we have to be responsible to every decision that we take," James sighed. "I think I'd better tell him myself, you know, be responsible to my own decision,"

Sookie knelt down in front of him and took his hands. "I'll be with you," Sookie said. "I think he will appreciate your honesty," Or she hoped so. "James, if we don't tell so many people about your father, it's because we are worried about your safety. In their eyes, you are half human half vampire. I can't even start to imagine what the human will do to you, maybe study you, experiment on you, not to mention what the vampires will do. Possibly they will do the same thing that the human will do to you or even worse. You are their dream, a dream that they don't want to admit, do you realize that? A dream of having vampire's blood running in their bodies and yet, they're still able to walk under the sun!

That's why your father decided to keep the secret only among us,"

"And if the werewolves know?"

Sookie shuddered. She did not know what would happen and honestly, she was afraid to even imagine what might happen.

"I hope we can help them to solve their problems before they find out about Papa,"

"I hope too," And Sookie really meant it.

"Can we go now, Mom? Cooper and his men are waiting,"

*****

The sheriff of Shreveport was not amused.

Eric was standing in front of the kitchen's door, wearing nothing but his black boxer shorts and bright red robe. His arms were bent and his hands were in claw-forms. His pale skin was as white as marble and dark red rings circled his eyes making those piercing blue eyes shine. The blond hair that flew playfully around his shoulder did not make him look friendly; on the contrary, it made him looked as if he would jump to any of the werewolves and tore them to bits.

"Sheriff of Shreveport," James' voice was again an octave higher than normal. "These..er..are the werewolves of...The Grey Hound Clan of Beaumont...my brothers..."

'Click' Eric's fangs were out and he growled. His voice was deep and threatening. The werewolves answered it with the same growling and snarling.

Sookie grabbed Sam's hand instinctively. Her knees were shaking. She felt her heart miss a beat. Sam looked at her. His face was as pale as Eric's was, but he gave her a smile. A little smile that made his face looked even paler.

"Who gave you the permission to enter their clan?" Eric asked James. His head moved like a snake.

"Nobody," answered James. Sookie could see James' lips trembling. "I believe I am old enough to make my own decisions,"

Eric spread his arms and opened his mouth widely, showing everybody his fangs, which at that moment looked bigger than normal. Then, he let out a cry; a loud, growling cry that would shake anybody's bones. Sookie could feel her blood turn cold and her skin was covered by goose bumps. Sam was getting paler and he whimpered, like a scared little dog. His hand pressed her hand strongly, gave her such a pain that made her want to scream, but Sookie did not dare to do it.

Except the werewolves. They spread their legs; and the sound of cracking bones, which Sookie had heard before now filled the garden. Slowly long rough grey hair was covering their bodies like the black cloud that was creeping on the west sky.

Sookie wanted to run and kneel down in front of Eric, begging him to reconsider whatever he wanted to do when she heard James speaking calmly.

"Please, stop. For me,"

Both Eric and the werewolves looked at James who was not only pale, but also sweating. Sookie could see the sweat running down on his forehead, gleaming under the lamp's light.

Nobody moved or made a sound. The wind that blew around them was loud and clear, touching anything that on its way.

Now the sound of the cracking bones stopped. The grey hair was slowly disappeared from the body of the werewolves and Eric closed his mouth as he let his arms down, but none of them let their guard down completely.

"We know that we should have announced our arrival," Cooper said. "You had welcomed any werewolves in your territory, and we appreciate it, Sheriff. We did not have the intention to take any advantage of your generosity, but since we are invited by our Little Brother, we assumed that he had a part of ownership of this place,"

Eric looked at Sookie. Maybe it was only her feeling, but why was he smiling now? "He does,"

"Then I don't see any reason of your anger,"

"His mother is mine," Eric said. His eyes were flickering. "As is the boy,"

The werewolves looked at each other and made noises. Sookie did not understand a word they were saying because it sounded more like grunting and snarling. She was not sure if they were only making noises or they were actually talking to each other in their 'werewolves' language'. Whilst busy with themselves, they missed the view when James was smiling widely at Eric and Eric returned his smile with a nod.

_Shit, _Sookie heard Sam saying in his head. _No, it can't be true._

Sookie squeezed Sam's hand and whispered. "I'll tell you, later,"

"We heard about your woman," Cooper said. "but not about your woman's son. He is a Long Tooth,"

"So I heard," Eric smirked. His voice was very cynical. "Or you beasts kill a woman's children when you take a woman?"

Cooper snarled, "We are not children eaters like your kind,"

"So I heard," Eric turned around. "James, come with me," Then, he entered the house.

James followed him without saying any word, leaving the werewolves in awe.

Sookie cleared her throat. "Anybody wants to have coffee?" She definitely needed one; otherwise her nerves would be totally shot.

The clock on the kitchen's wall ticked slowly. An hour had passed by, but Eric and James did not return yet.

The werewolves started to get nervous. Two of them that had been pacing around for quite some times making Sookie nervous too. The other two were standing beside the door in alert position, as if they were ready to attack anybody who passed through the door. Cooper looked at the clock every five minutes; as if by doing so, he could have made the needles run faster.

Sookie had gone upstairs to see what had been going on. Eric and James were in Aude's room. Sat on the edge of the bed, Eric's forehead touched James', who was standing in front of him. Both of them whispered in Old Norse. She did not understand a word they were saying, but the sound of their voices were calming and soothing.

Sookie decided not to bother them. Whatever they were saying, it was clear that they did not want to share it with anybody else; otherwise, they would have not used Old Norse. Slowly she returned to the kitchen and waited together with the werewolves and Sam.

James appeared in the kitchen with a solemn face and a thoughtful look. Behind him was Eric. His face was expressionless.

"I'll show you where you can sleep," James said to the werewolves. "You can stay here as long as you want,"

The werewolves looked at each other, and then they nodded. After nodding to Sookie, they left the kitchen and followed James.

"It's impossible," Sam said to Sookie when they were finally on their own. "You two can't have...."

Eric lifted his eyebrow. "What can't we have, Shifter?"

"A child together," Sam looked at Sookie. "You two..." his jaw dropped. "Those days...in the wood..." his body shook; and he probably would fall to the floor if Sookie had not caught him.

In a blink of an eye, Eric was already in front of Sam. His fangs were out. "If we do, what are you going to do about it?"

"Eric!" Sookie gave him a warning look.

Eric sniffed. "I never like your smell," he said. "You reminded me of an old dog I used to have. He was very slowly in many things, except in recognizing danger because he knew a lot. He was always the first one who ran away, making us aware that danger was coming," he walked away. "Too much knowledge is dangerous, Shifter. And so is little,"

"I don't know that you're a philosophical man," Sam said, his voice was trembling. "I always considered you as a vulture,"

Eric chuckled. "I did not say that. Einstein did. Interesting man, we used to talk about his passion and obsession with the time. Pity, he did not want to be turned,"

"He saw right through you, that's why,"

Eric continued walking without saying anything, but Sookie believed, he was smirking or grinning.

Confused and out of breath, Sam sat down. "This is not true, no, this is not true," he said, repeatedly. As if by saying it, his sentence would turn into reality.

Sookie held his hand. "It is, Sam," she said.

Sam looked at to the empty stairs, trying to catch a glimpse of Eric. "It changes everything," he said. "If he can have a child, it means...."

"No, Sam. Vampires can't have any children," Sookie said.

"But...?"

"He was a human when he and I were together in the woods, remember?"

"I need a drink," Sam stood up, hastily looked for something in the cabinet, took a bottle of scotch and poured it in a glass. The hand that was holding the glass shook uncontrollably. "I heard many weird stories about Bon Temps Woods but not something like this," he swallowed his Scotch in one go. "Not like this," he put the glass on the table.

"I don't know how to tell you, Sam, but believe me, please. He was a human,"

"You're right," Sam said. "But still, I need time to understand this,"

Sookie touched his shoulder. "I can understand that, but for the moment, please keep it to yourself,"

Sam laughed bitterly. "You can trust me on that. Alcide will bristle his fur if he hears about this and the last thing that I want to face now is an angry werewolf,"

Sookie walked to upstairs. _And the last thing I want to face now is an angry vampire, _she thought. "Please watch James, Sam," She said without turning around. "Thank you,"

Almost running, she went to Aude's room. She wanted to know what Eric and James had talked about and what had changed Eric's mind.

A strong hand pulled her as soon as she entered the room and pressed her onto the wall. A cold hand caressed her neck and impatiently opened her blouse's two upper buttons. "I am hungry," Eric said, hoarsely. With force, he freed her shoulder from her blouse. She heard a sound of linen being ripped off, but she did not care. Then, he kissed her shoulder, but it did not feel like a kiss to her. His cold lips were pressed strongly against her skin, like a cotton bud that was used by doctors to disinfect part of skin before they put a needle through it.

"Eric..." Sookie touched his hair softly. "The werewolves are here. They are not Alcide's men, I am afraid that my blood will somehow drive them mad..."

Eric raised his face. The dark red rings were wider than before, creeping further away from his eyes, made him look old and tired.

"Eric...haven't you eaten anything?" Sookie was shocked by the view.

"I stop drinking True Blood," he said.

"Why?"

"I want to be sure that it is safe to drink it,"

Sookie touched his face. He had not eaten for how long....? Three days? Why did he look like this already?

Eric caressed her neck again. His eyes were flickering with lust. "I am so hungry..." he said. His legs locked hers; his body was lying on her now and she was unable to move.

"What about the fresh blood?" Sookie asked, breathing heavily. He weighted a ton!

Suddenly he smirked. "I take that as an agreement," he said as he lifted her up and with one move, they were on the bed. He kissed her passionately, in fact too passionately. She felt his fangs touching the flesh inside her mouth. Then, he let her go. There was some blood on his fangs, her blood.

"An agreement on what?"

"My food," he said, getting off her. "I will only feed on fresh blood now, but I was not sure about your reaction,"

"Do you really wait for my approval, Eric?"

He smirked. "Wait here,"

"Where are you going?"

"Feeding," he said.

The next minute, he was gone. He had flown through the window and into the night.

Sookie did not wait for him in the room, but outside in the garden, sitting at the bench with Sam, watching James talking to his new 'brothers'. They were sitting in front of the former Tara's office. James told Cooper that he could use that office as his office now and the other rooms beside the office for their bedroom. Cooper laughed very loudly when he heard the word 'office'. He took care of cows, he said. He did not need any office. James, shrugging his shoulder, said, "Who knows,"

As much as she could accept the accept Alcide's words that Colin's brothers were good people, she did not feel comfortable to leave James alone with a bunch of rough men. Although it seemed they were doing fine. She could hear James' laughter from time to time, listening to Cooper's story.

"What a boy," Sam said with a not so convincing voice. "He seemed perfectly fine with the idea of having such a father,"

"I've tried to forget him, to be honest," Sookie said. "I've done all I could to start a new life that was completely different from here. I worked behind a desk, focused my life around James even dated men whom I met during the day, to make sure that they were not vampires; but it seems fate has something different in store for me,"

"How did you feel when you found out that he's still alive?"

"Shocked," said Sookie. "But after that, I felt sorry for him, you know, imagining him being buried alive in that coffin for fifteen years. I even felt guilty to leave him alone like that,"

Sam sighed. "He's really gotten hold of you, hasn't he?"

_Something like that, yeah. _Sookie had to say that she agreed with Sam. She had Eric under her skin still and she had not realized it. When she had lived in Baton Rouge, she had never dated with a blond haired and blue-eyed man because that combination reminded her of Eric. She had avoided swimming pools, Gran's pie, Gumbo soup or even jasmine perfume.

Eric, Eric, Eric.

That's all she had in her head; knocking her brain, lurking around, watching her quietly from inside his coffin; and now she admitted, somehow she was glad to have had such a feeling.

"What about you, Sam? Anybody special during all these years?"

"One or two," he said causally. "But not really serious," he smiled. "One woman was even allergic to dog's fur,"

"Wow, that must have been difficult for you,"

"Yeah, she was sneezing the whole time she was with me," then he laughed. "It was funny, somehow. Especially when I wanted to kiss her,"

Sookie chuckled. Yeah, she could imagine that. Sam's and his girlfriend's faces had gotten nearer to each other, Sam's lips were hungrily aiming her lips and then "achew!"

"Anyway, what are you going to do with them?" Sam changed the subject. "Colin would not send his best people for nothing,"

"His best people?"

"Yes, Cooper is what the werewolves call 'a beta male', the lieutenant of the pack. If Colin is sick or dies and he doesn't have brothers, then Cooper will take over the pack. The other four men are the inner circle of Colin's power. They are as strong as Cooper was, if not even stronger; but Cooper is older or Colin trusts him more than the rest. Each of them has some kind of tasks to support the pack; maybe one takes care of security, the other for food or connection. They have other werewolves who will do what they say. It's not usual that five lieutenants leave the pack like what they are doing now. Colin is definitely up to something,"

"I have no idea," Sookie said. "I will talk to Eric and ask him if he has any idea what to do with them,"

"Maybe it's not a bad idea if you keep them here, so Alcide and I can look after them,"

"Do you think James won't mind about it? I know James, he will take this whole leader of the pack seriously," Sookie sighed. James inherited that serious manner of taking responsibility from her. She had no right to complain at all.

"I can reason with him," Sam said. "He will listen to me. I listened to him, as – how you called me? Dean? Yeah, Dean. As Dean, of course,"

Sookie felt her cheeks heat up. She had done it all right, but it was because she had not known that Sam was a shifter. "You're a good dog, Sam,"

Sam grinned.

"I believe he is,"

Eric's voice made both of them jump and Sookie let out a shriek. "Jesus, Eric! Do you want to give me a heart attack?!" Damn this vampire! His ability to fly and to sneak around without making a noise would be the death of her one day!

Eric stood there, smirking. Apparently, he had taken a shower or washed his face. He looked fresh and dashing. The dark rings had gone from under his eyes and his pale skin was no longer so dull - he was glowing. Whomever he had fed on must have been healthy. He wore his bottle green shirt, jeans and a pair of flip-flop.

Sookie loved seeing him in that green shirt because it's colour was so contrast to his hair that made it look brighter and shinier; and at the same time, it made his eyes softer.

"Pam is coming," he said, ignoring what she had said. "Bill, too. She said Bill has something important to tell us," he sat beside her.

"What? Is he bringing the message from the Queen?"

"If the Queen wanted me, she would not send anybody. She would call me to come there," Eric said, stretching his body, making himself comfortable and by doing so, he pushed her more and more to Sam, which in return, made Sam feel uncomfortable.

"I'd better tell the Hounders that your people are coming," Sam said, standing up. "We don't want to have any misunderstanding tonight,"

"James can handle it, if a misunderstanding happens," Eric folded his arms.

"You'll put too much pressure on that boy's shoulder," Sam was annoyed by Eric's reaction.

"He's a Stackhouse, he can handle it," Eric grinned. "Trust me when I say this, they have skulls made of stone,"

Sookie elbowed him on the stomach. Skull made of stone? And what was exactly Northman's skull made of?

"Ouch," Eric said. "And an elbow made of oak," Then he pulled her into his arms and gave her a long kiss, ignoring Sam who took it as a sign that he was not wanted there. When Eric let her go, Sam was nowhere to be seen.

Sookie touched his face. There was something going on tonight. Eric looked...lustful. His blue eyes were warm and friendly, there was even a smile on his face. Eric rarely smiled, except when he wanted to tease her. Mostly he grinned or smirked. What was going on?

"Where is Alcide?" he asked.

"I thought he had told you about Simon,"

"He had, but I also said that he should be here if you decided to come,"

"I had no planning to come, actually, but James has invited the Hounders to come. I can't leave him alone with them,"

"I agree," he said. "It is a pity that they had to kill Simon. He's a proud wolf. There are not so many of them any more, but it was a wise decision to kill him,"

Had Sookie not met Tom Rodney, she would have said differently. Naturally, there would be no excuse of killing a person, but Rodney's condition was not exactly what she could call living. Some people might argue that Rodney had the rights to continue living, even when he had not been on the right mind or could not remember what he had done or said. However, if he had been asked if he wanted to continue living like that, he would have given the same answer like Simon. He had not been neither living nor dead. Perhaps, he would have chosen dead.

A light kiss on her nose brought Sookie back to what was in front of her. Eric was in a very good mood indeed.

"You think too much," he said.

"You're in a good mood,"

He smiled (again!) "Sometimes,"

_O yeah? Once in a hundred years, perhaps?_

But Sookie did not ask, in fact, she did not care. Eric was in a good mood; she wanted to enjoy _this Eric_ as long as possible, just like when they had been in the woods. She kissed him. Yeah, just like the Eric she had once seen.

"Hmh..." Eric grinned. He lifted her and put her on his lap. Something hard pushed her lower limb. He was having a hard-on. His hands were playing with her blouse's buttons. "You know what I want to do with you?"

"What?"

"Bad things," his grin was wider. "Bad, bad things that you will not forget,"

The sound of his voice, which was a combination between teasing and lust, made her grin. "Whatever they are, you have to wait until James sleep,"

"James!" suddenly Eric yelled. "Jam.."

Sookie closed his mouth with her hand. Sookie felt her face hot. It was unbelievable that he would yell like that!

Eric tried to remove her hand from his mouth. The result, Sookie had to wiggle her body on his laps to keep her hand on his mouth. When Eric finally was able to do it, he moaned. "Oh, that felt good. You should have done it more often,"

A horny Eric. This would be a heavy night for her, not that she was complaining.

"Ehm...Sookie...ehm..." Sam cleared his throat, standing some feet away from them. He sounded very uncomfortable.

Sookie got off Eric's lap. Her face was getting hotter than before. Hastily she fixed her hair, which was perfectly fine. "Yes, Sam?"

"We have a problem," he said. "Pam and the others cannot enter the house,"

"What?!" Sookie looked at Eric, looking for an explanation.

That 1000 years old Viking vampire slowly rose. His figure looked menacing when he said, "You have accepted the house,"

************


	20. The Night Bill Compton Was Challenged

**Author's Note: A little answer to charhamblin and to Vic Vega, thanks, Luv!  
**

Nineteen

**The Night Bill Compton was challenged  
**

Bill Compton, born and raised in Bon Temps two hundred and some years ago, was now sitting in the library, which was also the Sheriff of Shreveport's office. His face, as pale as any vampire's, was thoughtful. His blue eyes were staring at the air as if he was trying to find something – an answer, an inspiration, from it.

Sookie had never seen him like this before. Bill, as far as she knew him, was a quiet man. He normally would stand somewhere behind and rarely gave his comments, but when he did, then mostly it was important and every body listened to him. His face was stern and serious, but never worried. Tonight, it was more worried than anything else.

"André is going to come to Bon Temps in two nights," he said. "He did not tell me what he wants, but he wanted me to deliver the message, Sheriff,"

"I see," said Eric.

"I am not sure if having werewolves, which come from another area, on your ground would be a wise decision..." Bill looked at Cooper, but he did not continue when he saw Eric raised his hand. Eric did not want him to question about his decision on his own ground and apparently, Bill understood it pretty well not to do otherwise.

Pam and Bill did not agree with Eric's decision to let James and one of the Hounders listen to what Bill had to say. Pam had tried to convince Eric that it would have been better if it was kept amongst them because it concerned the Queen, but Eric said no. "James needs to know," he said. "He will tell the werewolves eventually, so let them stay and hear the news directly from Bill,"

The news was not so good.

"Her Majesty...she suffers sunstroke,"

"Sunstroke?" Sookie looked at Bill. "What do you mean by sunstroke?"

"Like a human when he or she suffers sunstroke, Her Majesty has had high temperature, headache and changing moods – more than usual. She has also suffered from hallucination and paranoia. She thought somebody wanted to kill her. She did not trust any body any more, not even André."

"How is it possible?"

"I don't know. What we do know is that her majesty has retired later and later in the day; and waken up earlier and earlier. She started showing symptoms of what you humans call 'sunstroke' she was running a fever and she was vomiting and had a headache. She also starts seeing things…"

The Queen sounded as if she had the symptoms what Tom Rodney and Simon Black had had.

"She even believed that she had a heartbeat,"

The room became quiet.

Eric, sitting behind his desk with his hands in front of his mouth, stared at Bill without a blink; he did it so long that made Bill moved uncomfortably. Pam, standing behind Eric's chair, one hand on the hip the other on the back of the chair, curled her lips so small that Sookie was afraid she might have swallowed it. James leaned on the couch, put his hands on his head and opened his mouth, but nothing came out from his mouth. Cooper and Sam, standing in front of the door, crossing their hands on the chest, looked at each other with questions in their eyes.

"That's absurd," Sookie sighed.

"I don't know, Miss Sookie," said Cooper. "The Sheriff returned from the death. Who knows what else that the vampires have in store,"

"Not a heartbeat, I can tell you," Pam said. Her voice sounded disgusted.

"Why should we trust you?" asked Cooper, snarling.

Pam smirked and then showed him her fangs.

"You should not," said Eric. "If you trust us, I will not trust you guarding your..." he looked at James reluctantly. "...Little Brother,"

Cooper looked as if he had heard it wrong. " What are you saying, Sheriff?"

"That's the only way we can help each other,"

"By not trusting neither of us?"

"Exactly,"

Sookie could not see the sense of what Eric had just said. The sense of working together was to trust each other and not the other way around...wasn't it?

"From what we know, two werewolves had been bitten," said Eric. "How can we be sure that there is no other werewolf who had been bitten? Most of them who become half-lives (Cooper snarled as he heard the word) don't realize what they have become. They will get confused and not know what to do. Some proud wolves would ask their brothers to end their lives, but some who did not know would go on living until their time came,"

"Eric is right," said Pam. "We met a hand full of them in our past; and I can tell you, the sight was not exactly pretty,"

"What are you suggesting, Eric?" asked Bill. "The half-life that you met at the palace had been made by an unknown vampire. We could agree, I believe, that none of us are willing to feed on each other,"

"Your kind knows who made whom?" asked Cooper, surprised.

"That's the only way we know our people," said Bill. "We can not breed like your kind and most of us did not survive in our first year. Unless we registered our people, we could not help our member who were in need,"

"Somebody, whether he is a vampire, a werewolf or maybe even a human, is behind this." said Eric. "We don't know what her or his motive is, but I believe there is a connection between what happened to Her Majesty, that half-life and Simon Black,"

"I don't know so much about vampires," Sookie said, which made Bill and Pam give her some insulted looks. She knew, it sounded like a paradox. She lived together with a vampire, had a son with him, but still confessed that she did not know much vampires.

Since the vampires revealed themselves, one of their Public Relations bodies - American Vampire League, gave away a lot of information about vampires. What vampires were, how many kinds of vampires were, how to deal with rogue vampires, what human should do when they saw a vampire committing a crime, what a crime according to vampires was and many others. To say that she did not know so much about vampires meant also that she did not care or against the existence of vampires, like many members of organizations that were against vampires because if she really made an effort to find any information she could get it from some AVL offices that opened every night.

"I try to be honest, here," Sookie continued. "I just wonder, is it normal for a vampire to stay late in the day? We had breakfast at ten o'clock when we were there. Her Majesty looked fresh and alive. I thought vampires could not stand direct or indirect sunlight,"

"Her Majesty is older than I am," said Eric. "She could stand the indirect sunlight a little bit longer than I do,"

Sookie's skin crawled. The Queen was older than Eric...how much older, 100, 200 years older? If she was older, did it mean she was stronger than Eric was? She looked just like a sixteen years old girl and with changing moods like a teen in her puberty years. With her power and her changing moods, she was definitely a very dangerous and difficult teenager to deal with.

"But not that long," Bill said. "I asked Godric already," he said. "Godric is older than Her Majesty and he said what the Queen of Louisiana does is risky and endangering her own life. She is a vampire, she can't stand the sun, doesn't matter what she eats or drinks,"

"What does she drink, actually?" asked Sookie. "I know vampires drink only blood and True Blood, but perhaps she has something that all of you don't?"

"I do not know," Bill answered. "André is the one who takes care of Her Majesty's daily needs. Nobody else is allowed to be closed to her, except André and her bodyguards,"

"Then we have to wait for André," said Eric. It's clearly that he did not like the idea of waiting for André. His eyes were cold and the line of his mouth was clearer.

"What about Tom Rodney?" suddenly James asked, looking at Bill.

"What about Tom Rodney?" Bill returned the question.

"If he had been registered, you must have had his address. Can I have it?"

"What do you mean with he had been registered?" asked Cooper. "Rodney is a werewolf, he can't be registered...." he looked at Bill. "Unless...."

"He was turned," Bill continued.

Cooper moved backward. His face was pale. "Old Rodney was turned? You met him as a half-life, Little Brother?"

James nodded. "I am sorry, Cooper. I should have told you earlier. Rodney was dead," James tried to avoid Eric's gaze. He did not want that Cooper had any idea who had killed Rodney.

"Poor Old Rodney," Cooper murmured.

"Well, Bill. Can I have it?" James repeated his question. James' another bad habit: If he asked a question, he would keep asking until his question was answered.

Bill looked at James, his eyebrows met in the middle. His jaw moved slowly, as if the answer that he was about to give stuck on his mouth. "That's confidential,"

"How important was Rodney to the vampires?" James looked at Bill, then at Eric. "If he had been _only _a half-life, which seems to me doesn't have values in front of you, why is his record kept as a secret?"

Eric stared James back. Those two pairs of eyes were narrowing. Sookie swore if there had been somehow a way to understand the meaning of the lights that came out of those eyes, the result would have not been easy for her heart. Both of them seemed testing each other power. Eric had done that before and after awhile, James had turned his face away. But now, he seemed to be more confident with himself and brave enough to face him.

"I have a little knowledge of what happened outside Shreveport," Eric said, without turning his face away. "Maybe Pam could help,"

"If you mean by 'helping' is to come to the Palace, I suggest you not to do, Pam," said Bill. He was quiet for a moment, and then he said, "All right. I'll give you the record. But it's for your eyes only,"

"What I will see will also be seen by Cooper," James said. His voice was stern; reminded Sookie strongly of Eric, when he had pressed through what he wanted.

"What will it be good for you, if you don't know what or who he was?" Bill was approaching James. His body movement showed a high alert sign. He did not like that a young human like James challenged him.

"And what will it be good for you, if in front of your eyes he had no value or whatsoever when he had been still alive?" James was slowly rising.

"James, that's enough," said Eric. There was a clear warning in his voice.

For a moment Sookie did not know why Eric had given James such a warning, then she realized, Cooper was also in ready position. His arms were covered with long grey hair and he growled.

James and Bill were facing each other. Sookie was astonished to see how tall James was. There were around 2 inches differences between them. James had only to raise his chin a little bit and their eyes met each other, which that was exactly what he was doing.

"What is so important about Rodney's data anyway?" Sookie said, trying to use her most cheerful voice. The way James and Bill faced each other, added with Cooper's readiness to jump in front of James made the air in the room heavy. The situation was like a time bomb, any sudden or misinterpreted movement from any of them could create unwanted results and the very last thing that Sookie wanted was to see James involved in any fight.

"I am not trying to underestimate your work, Bill," said Pam. "But I am quite sure Rodney was not inside your prominent list, wasn't he?"

Bill did not answer.

"Why does everybody make everything more difficult?" Sam sighed. "I am an outsider here, but the way you treat each other makes me sick. If you want your queen's problem to be solved and you James, if you want to help your Hounder Brothers, this is not the way to do it,"

"I don't understand," said Bill.

"Rodney had lived once among the Grey Hounder of Beaumont," said Sam. "When had he been turned?"

"A year ago," James answered. "Or so Bill said,"

"Was it not a year ago when the werewolves heard the rumour about the new blood in the market that could help them control their transformation?"

"I don't see any relation between the two," said Bill.

"Jake Purefoy – our brother, went to see Rodney some full moons ago," said Cooper. "He wanted to find out about the rumour, because you see, Jake is not a pure blood werewolf. He's the second son of our leader and he was made werewolf by Colin when he was still a child. When he heard about the rumours he decided to leave the pack and wanted to live as a human and not as a werewolf. His girlfriend is a human and he wanted to marry her. He thought if he could control his transformation; he had a chance to lead a normal life.

But then we lost contact. We try to track down Rodney, but that old son of a bitch seems to disappear from the face of the earth. Only this evening we knew from Miss Sookie that he was in Baton Rouge and now we knew that he had been turned.

If Rodney had been turned, Jake might have been turned too. As you said, none of us like feeding on each other, then why had they been turned? Is there something that your kind has been hiding and they knew too much; therefore the only way to shut us up was by turning them, knowing that we'd rather die than go on living as a half-life? Or maybe the rumours about the new blood in the market is true; and your kind doesn't want us to get our hands on it because if the second generation werewolves can control their transformation. It means they can transform themselves whenever and wherever they want, we will have a stronger position than vampires – a possibility that your kind will be a pain on the ass for your kind!"

Again the room became quiet. No sound filled the room except the grandfather clock at the corner. Tick. Tack. Tick. Tack. And Cooper's tampered sound of thought.

"All right, then." Bill finally said. "I will give you the information, James and you, Cooper. But it will only be about Rodney and it has to be kept between you,"

"I am not the leader of my pack," Cooper said. "My Captain has to know,"

"I agree," Eric said.

Bill nodded, but Sookie could see that he did not quite agree with it. He curled his lips and to Sookie's surprise, he took a deep breath. What did he do that for? He did not breath! "If you have computer, I can access the file and you can have the data tonight,"

******

It was late at night or early in the morning when Bill finished downloading the file. James was unable to open his eyes any more and Eric told him to go to bed. "It's better if you look at it in the morning," he said. "Your mind will be fresher and you can see more clearly,"

Bill excused himself to return to his hotel and Pam left too because almost dawn is the time where the Fangtasia's visitors get crazier. It's the last call hour, she said, where vampires tried to get their last meal before they got to sleep. Many of them would be out of control and she did not want Chow to handle that chaos by himself. "Chow is not exactly a thinker," she said, rolling her eyes. "He will do more damages than advantages, even when problems are solved,"

Sookie sat down on the sofa. This library was a huge room and felt bigger when she was alone like this. Eric was there too, but he was standing at the corner, almost not moving. He put his hands in his pockets and clenching his teeth. What was he thinking?

Sookie reached out her hands, "Come here," she said. "What are you thinking about? You look very serious,"

Slowly Eric came to her, "You have accepted the house," he said, then his voice sounded not so sure, when he continued, "And you declared it as mine, too."

"How did you know...? I mean how could you tell?"

"Pam and Bill were among the few vampires who had been allowed by Aude to enter the house. Now that it is yours, you have to invite them in, which you did. I could enter the house without your invitation; it means that you declared it as mine as well,"

"It is yours," Sookie said. "Aude and you gave it to me because you had not been sure if you would have been able to survive the magic or not,"

Eric sat down beside her. "To whom you declared it?"

"I don't know what you mean," Sookie played with Eric's long fingers. His hands were big and so were the fingers. His life as a Viking must have created these big strong hands, all those swords or axes he had swung, or perhaps the fishnets he had thrown into the lakes or rivers must have forged his hands, made them rough and strong.

"You must have said that the house belonged to you and to me in front of a person,"

The conversation between her and James rang in her head. James had asked if the house belonged to her; and she had said yes and it belonged to his father too.

"James, I said it in front of James,"

Eric kissed her; his eyes were closed as he was doing it. When he opened his eyes, two red liquid floated down on his cheek. "Clever boy," he said. His voice was sombre.

Eric was crying.

It had been a long time ago since the first time Sookie had seen him crying. It was a weird feeling, but she liked it. She kissed his cheeks, left and then right. This cold big lying A-hole, as Lafayette called him, had feelings; and he buried them down inside. Sookie touched his chest. Deep down inside that made them hard and rarely came up to the surface. When Sookie lifted her face, Eric stopped her by grabbing her neck and passionately kissing her lips.

'Click' his fangs were out.

Sookie opened her blouse and gave her throat to him. Slowly she closed her eyes and she gasped when the sound of a hot iron, which was being put into water as Eric sunk his teeth on it, reached her ears. She put her hand on his head and brought him into her arms. As she fell onto the sofa's seat with him on the top of her, she felt like a giant heavy sack fell on her, but she did not complain. Eric was a big man and he weighed a ton, but as soon as he lifted his body and made a space between them, Eric could be as soft, tender and light as a feather or as a wave. A wave, yes, that's more like it, as he was always able to arouse her up and down like the wave that touched the sand on the beach.

Eric got off her. His face was covered by the blood tears that fell from his eyes; her blood dropped from his mouth, fell onto his chest. "You should not give your blood to me too often," he said.

"I want to,"

"And I love it, yours is the sweetest I've ever tasted and I had tasted countless of kinds of blood already," he said. "But you need your blood for your body. It's not healthy for you if you give it to me in daily basis. You will be suffering from...." he was looking for the word.

"Anaemia?"

"Yes, anaemia. When you are lack of blood and easily get tired. Worse than that, your heart will beat irregularly and you will experience short of breath. I believe it will be painful for you. Besides, the only short of breath I want to hear from you is when you call my name and bury your nails on my back," he smiled, touched her neck, wiped off the blood and then licked his finger.

Sookie wiped off his tears. She wanted to look into his eyes and somehow found the truth in them when she asked the very question, "Did you have sex when you drank from other women?"

"Sometimes," he said. "But not recently, at least not tonight or the time when you had seen me doing it in my office at Fangtasia,"

"Also when you had been with Aude?"

"Only when she said yes," he said and seemed to be bothered by the answer. "I had needs that Aude could not always give when she was growing older. But _only_ when she said yes," he said again, this time he emphasized the word 'only'.

_Like when she had invited me to stay here, _Sookie thought. "I will be growing older too," she thought a loud because Eric heard it too.

"Then only when you say yes," he smiled, assuring. "Unless you want me to turn you,"

"Out of the question," Sookie said quickly. "And I am not a woman who is willing to share,"

"Hmh...it sounds like a long period of hot nights..." Eric lifted her off the sofa.

"And you are going to have difficulty convincing me to do otherwise," she wrapped her hand around his neck.

"So I heard," he smirked. "It sounds like you are going to stay with me for a long time..."

Sookie buried her face on his shoulder. Did it? Maybe it did.

Outside the werewolves were howling. The smell of her blood must have reached their fine senses and triggered their lust.

Sookie held Eric tighter. She could not explain why, she always felt terrified with the sound of their howling, but when the jasmine scent that came through Eric's shirt reached her nose, suddenly she felt calmer....and safe.

"We will have a long period of togetherness before I allow you to leave me, Sookie Stackhouse," she heard Eric whispering as he laid her down onto the bed. "And you are going to have difficulty convincing me to do otherwise,"

******


	21. Not An Ordinary Normal Family

Twenty

**Not An Ordinary Normal Family  
**

Two days had gone by without any incident.

James did not seem to be focused on Rodney's case any more. The data that he had received from Bill was left in his laptop. He did not print it out; he did not even open the laptop. Cooper wanted to wait for Colin, he said; and he thought it would be better that way. He did not know that Rodney person and talking about a person that he did not know was not useful at all.

James and the Hounders spent their days by playing football or riding their bikes. James was eager to learn everything about his new friends, too eager for Sookie's taste. The Hounders taught him how to recognize the sound of their howling, the way they rounded up their enemies and even their body language. James had to pay attention on their gestures and mimics because every movement on their faces usually represented their emotions. "Werewolves don't talk much," as Cooper put it, "We show what we think on our faces and gestures,"

"Don't you worry, Miss Sookie," said one of the Hounders. His name was Larry. A tall heavy built man with long brown hair. "We will take good care of Little Brother."

Still, the way they played football, how they bumped their massive bodies against James' slim figure hurt her more than James; especially, when James 'flew' to the air and landed on the grass. Her bones were painful seeing it.

"You have a son, Sookie," Eric said in the evening when he saw the bruises on James legs. "He should learn about roughness. He is a member of a pack, after all. What he got from his own pack is nothing compares to what he will get from other packs,"

Eric talked as if the word 'pack' had the same meaning with 'tribe'. Maybe it was the same for him. His eyes shone brightly when he was saying it as if the memory of his human life came back to him at that very moment. He had been a member of a Viking tribe somewhere in Europe for more than one thousand years ago. He knew what that kind of life could mean and he was not surprised or shocked to see that a werewolf pack had almost similar way of life.

However, James was a modern child living in a modern time. He was neither a werewolf nor a Viking. He was just a normal ordinary American child or Sookie wished him to be. Sookie did not mean with his physical appearance, which was everything else, but ordinary. With a vampire as a father and a human with faery blood as a mother, James could not be called 'normal', let alone ordinary, but at least, he could have a normal life such as going to school, hanging around with boys at his age and not with a group of werewolves.

Sometimes, she had the feeling that James knew something more than what he was willing to admit it. Sometimes his head said, "concentrate, remember what Godric said, concentrate and pretend that you don't know,"; many times he deliberately avoided her gaze as if he did not want that she looked into his eyes and found out what he hid in his mind.

Maybe what Alcide had said was true. James had a strong aura towards werewolves that no werewolf would be able to refuse what he wanted or they were like under a strong spell that their instinct to protect him was stronger than anything else was. Turning them into dogs, that's what Alcide said. Sookie did not know what it meant for a werewolf to be turned into a dog, but from the sound of it, it was not exactly a compliment.

Sookie left James at the mansion with the werewolves that morning. She wanted to ask Lafayette to cook for her or send some food to the mansion. Had she been alone with James, she could simply take him downtown for dinners, but with additional six persons, it would not be that easy. Besides, she needed to hear their opinions without having James beside her because her conversation one or the other way around would be about James.

Lafayette could not come to cook, but he would somebody to deliver some food to the Mansion. "That boy should learn how to keep his mouth shut," he said when he heard what James did to Bill. "You or Eric would not be there forever – well, maybe Eric will, and one he has to face his own shit because he can't just shut the fuck up. What is so important about this Rodney guy anyway? Okay, maybe it is important for his gang..."

"...pack…"

"Whatever...but not as important as his own ass! Sweet Jesus, from where he gets that arrogant behaviour...oh I forget, his father has the biggest mouth of all!"

Lafayette pissed of. And Sookie could not blame him. He loved James like his own son and if James had been there with her, he might get some slaps on the back of his head.

"Say, Sook," he decided to talk about something else. "You heard about Simon?"

"Yes, I did. Alcide had called me,"

"Poor thing," he said. "He was so young. It's just no life,"

Somehow, it was not. Simon would be forty-five this year, according to Lafayette, just five years older than she was. It was definitely no life.

"Where is Joseph, by the way? I don't see him around,"

"He's in Dallas," said Lafayette. His face was stern. "Family meeting. His father called him the other day and told him to go there. He said it had something to do with FOTs," Lafayette said the word FOTs with a disgusted tone. You know what, they have a new leader and his name is Steve Newlin the second, jeez, as if there was no other name than Steve, and Joseph said that this new Steve is more aggressive than his grandfather. He's been almost every day on tv, preaching against vampires and god knows what else. Just be careful, Sookie. If their power is stronger and it will be, the day will come when you have to choose between join them or against them. I would prepare myself, if I were you. Mentally and physically,"

From Lafayette's place, Sookie went straight to Grace Stones' place. Grace was her secretary who had been working for her for the last fifteen years. She was what the people in her office called 'old school' secretary. She was around 60 years old, a head shorter than she was and slim built. She wore water buffalo horn black framed eyeglasses; her white hair was always rolled behind her head and wore many times an old-fashioned buttoned up blouse.

Sookie liked her. Grace was a kind of secretary who would provide everything that she needed daily without being asked. She organized the appointments, prepared the paper that she needed and most of all, she spoke out her mind. If there was something that she did not like or agree she would tell her without any hesitation. She had to admit, it had not been always a good feeling to hear somebody criticizing her bluntly like that, but at least she always knew where Grace was standing.

Grace Stones – like many women in her generation, hated computers. Computers in her eyes shared the same value with mobile phones. "I don't need mobile phones," she said. "If I want to be reached, I will make sure that I am reachable. I am not a slave with a calling button hanging around my neck. Besides, who needs a phone, which can make pictures, send news, receive television programs, but has small buttons; so small that only babies can operate it!"

Sookie had tried to persuade Grace for how many years she did not remember any more that she should use computer, at least for the letter template form, so that she did not have to type the same words again and again, but only last year she had managed to do that.

"Oh, I don't know, Sookie," she said. They had been calling each other with their first names as soon as they had entered their second year of working together. "This computer thing here is so vulnerable. Oh...I don't know. I know where all the letters are, they are arranged and organized so that you can access them easily, when I am not in the office of course,"

Grace was correct. Her archives were super. She never had any difficulty to get the paper she needed. They would be there on her table some minutes after she had asked about it. Grace had always managed to find them.

Besides all her old-fashioned ways of arranging documents at the office, Grace had a passion in history and architectures. She knew the details of Louisiana History like the back of her hands. Sometimes Sookie asked herself why Grace did not teach at Louisiana State University or at Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport, since Grace knew a lot about it. But that woman who had been born in Shreveport more than sixty years ago said, "History is my passion, documents are my job. They are something completely different,"

Grace might know what the blueprint from Colin was about. It could be a modern building, but it could also be an old building. If it was an old building, then she might have a chance to find out the location of the building. If it was a modern building, then she had to go to an Architect office.

Grace was happy to see her at her place. She did not like sitting around at her apartment the whole time. She wanted to work again as soon as possible. A month time that Sookie had decided to stop working made her angst, she said. She was too old to look for a new job and Sookie had made it sound as if she closed down the office completely or she had been fired.

"It's just a little vacation, Grace," she said. "Baton Rouge agreed that I moved down here and took some time off, you know, with school vacation and all. Besides if they want me again, they will call and surely I will ask you to help me,"

By 'they', she meant The Queen and her people. Her office in Baton Rouge worked solely to track down the property of vampires or their next of kin, just in case the next of kin or still existed and to claim it back.

"Actually, it is one of the reasons I come here. I need your help, Grace," Sookie took out the blueprint. "It is a work; I'll pay you. Take your time, but the sooner you get the information, the more I will pay,"

Grace's eyes were getting bigger when she saw what Sookie had in her hands. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yes, it's a blueprint of a building, but I don't what kind of building it is or where,"

"Let me see," Grace took the blueprint. Her eyes moved fast upon the drawing and made comments such as "very typical", "possible", "I wonder", "interesting". Soon Grace was drawn in her own thought and completely forgot that there was somebody else in the room. She took a piece of paper and started making a note.

To be honest, Sookie could not even make a picture of what the building could be. The clients who came to her normally brought old pictures or stories with hints what the property could be. Then, she would start searching the names of the family, going to the civil office or record office and 'building' her case from there. She had never received a blueprint before. Maybe she should take some classes in 'architecture' so that in the future, if she received such a drawing she could make a picture what the building might be.

After awhile, Grace said, "I think I know what it is, but I have to go back to Baton Rouge and take some books,"

"Well, can you at least tell me now what you thought?"

"You know the Tabasco factory at Avery Island?"

"Yeah," Sookie thought the whole Louisiana knew about the Tabasco factory that was located on the Avery Island. She had gone there once, when she had been in High School. It was one of the School Travel programs, if she was not mistaken: Visiting Avery Island and Learning How to Make Tabasco. The pupils learned how the peppers were picked, mashed and then placed in salt. To keep the taste original, according to the brochures, the salt was originally mined on the island. The peppers would be put in white oak barrels up to three years, before they were bottled and sold as Tabasco.

Sookie, like many other teenagers, had not paid any attention to neither to the building nor the Tabasco process, but more to have enjoyed the sightseeing and being free from the parents for a day.

"Oh, all right." Grace sighed. It was obvious for Grace that Sookie had no idea what she was talking about. "The style of the Tabasco factory building is called "Romanesque Revivals". You see these parts here?" Grace showed her round and semi round shapes. "These round and semi-round arches are typical for Romanesque Revival buildings, buildings that were made like the building from the ancient Rome. Anyway, the Romanesque Revivals are simpler," and Grace continued comparing the styles. She would have gone on forever if Sookie had not stopped her and asked her what was so important about this style.

"One of the pioneers of this style was Henry Hobson Richardson, one of Louisiana's finest sons. Yes, Ma'am. H.H Richardson, raised and Born in Louisiana. He built many beautiful buildings in States. If you ever visit The Trinity Church in Boston, you would not believe how beautiful that building is!

The strange thing is, Richardson never made a building in Louisiana. Some rumours said he did. Now, if what I see here is like what I think it is, it could be that this building is designed by Richardson. It meant that this building was made around 1870 – 1888. If it was a Richardson Romanesque, then I have to search further.

Don't worry, Dear. It won't take long. There are not so many buildings in Louisiana that used that style. Pity, I have to say. Those old building are beautiful and magical, not like those cold square match boxes they called 'high-art'."

Grace Stones did not like modern buildings and she never hesitated to tell anybody who was willing to listen.

Sookie returned to the Mansion with a better feeling. She knew she should not put too much hope on Grace's search, but at least she could see some directions to go. The findings might or might not have anything to do with the murder cases, or with the attack, but that building must have meant something. At least, the owner of the building would give her a sheer of light on the horizon because to be honest, she was utterly confused for the moment about what she should do.

Colin was in the kitchen when Sookie entered the house. He nodded to acknowledge her presence. His face looked ragged and his hair was sleek from sweat and fat. He had such a strong body odour of sweat and musk, which strangely did not bother her at all. Some people had strong and disturbing body odour that made the others avoid them, but some – like Colin, had strong and yet nice and made the others feel comfortable to be around them.

Sookie put her bag on the table and sat down. "The police are looking for you," she said.

"Yeah? What for?"

"Industrial espionage,"

Colin looked at her in disbelief. "Are you sure it is me whom they are looking for? I am a rancher, Sookie. I don't care so much about any other things except my cows and our meat production. My brother Jake looks a lot like me; you won't be the first person who thinks I am Jake,"

"You were at Fangtasia, some nights ago, weren't you?"

"I was. Visiting Fangtasia is not yet a crime, is it?"

"The one who talked to you – he was a werewolf, wasn't he? (Colin nodded) He was murdered soon after your meeting; you could be the last person who was seen talking to him,"

"He's my cousin," Colin said. "I came because he asked me to. He said he had heard something about Jake," he touched his nose. "I wanted to know what it was, I guess, I would never know what it was,"

"I am sorry, I didn't know,"

"We can't even bury him properly now because the police are holding his body for autopsy," he took a deep breath. "It is a shame for a werewolf to be cut open like that, but I am willing to let them do it so that we can find who his killer was and deal with it,"

The sound of his voice made Sookie feel uncomfortable; his voice was emotionless as if he took it as something usual, something they dealt daily, like cutting a loaf of bread for breakfast.

"When did they ask you about it?"

"Some days ago," said Sookie. "There was a photo of you and some other guys. One of them showed you or your brother Jake with a man, somewhere. Maybe when Sam can get the photos, you will be able to recognize the man,"

Colin nodded. "Or finally I can get an idea my brother's whereabouts," he said. He took something out of his trousers' pocket and handed it out to her. Colin handed her a piece of paper. On it was a list of the Grey Hound member or what left of it. There were not so many any more; fifty pure blood and around twenty-two second generations. "Most of us do not remember who we bit any more," Colin said.

"Seventy-two members only? It is almost nothing, isn't it?"

Colin shook his head. "From the seventy-two, only a quarter of us are able or still have the chance to have children, pure blood children, I mean."

Only a quarter? That made...eighteen. "Eighteen members?"

Colin bit his lip. "Six of them are here,"

"Jesus," she sighed. "That's not a lot,"

"No. We are a dying clan, Sookie," he said. "And the situation nowadays does not give us many chances either,"

"What are your chances among the werewolves?"

"Not so big, if you understand what I mean. We are a strong clan with a small number. Some clans still can see us the way we used to be, but some start to challenge us into a quarrel. We could not answer the challenge most of the time because the loss of a member will be a great loss to us. The more often we refuse the challenge, the worse our reputation become. We have to swallow our pride to protect the clan, what else can we do?" Then he laughed. "I don't even know why I am telling you this." he ran his fingers through his hair. "James must get it from you, this thing; you know, that makes people feel comfortable telling you stories,"

Sookie smiled. As far as she could tell, perhaps Colin was right because Eric might give James something; friendliness, however, was definitely not one of them.

Sookie decided to come clean with Colin. This man was desperate to save the existence of his clan; she thought it would only be fair if he knew what he was facing by 'adopting' James.

"You know that James is not a werewolf, don't you?"

Colin took a deep breath. He seemed to hesitate when he said, "I know,"

"Why did you choose him to continue your leadership?"

"He is young and comes from a good family," he said, stretching his legs; a pair of long and strong legs. "I know about your brother, Sookie," he added as if he wanted to correct his first sentence, which Sookie understood it as a compliment actually. "He is well-known among the ladies," he smiled. "But that was not the reason. I sensed something special, something strong in him. If Alcide had not claimed him first, I would have done it. If I didn't respect Alcide, I would do it still," His dark grey eyes flickered. "You have a very special son, Sookie. I can understand why Alcide wants him to be his own. Your son is strong and confident, too confident for a boy in his age, but it's just like many young wolves, they believe in themselves too much. I don't know whose blood is running in his vein; nevertheless, I have a great respect towards him and if I have a chance to meet him, I will show him my gratitude,"

Sookie had a great urge to say that Colin could do that when Eric woke up, but she managed to keep her mouth shut in the last second. "I'll tell him," she said finally. Eric would be happy to hear that.

Colin nodded. "There will be a meeting in our clan this week. I want to take James to Beaumont to introduce him to the pack," he said. "I would be very grateful if you allow him to go with us or you want to come with us, perhaps?"

Sookie opened her mouth, but nothing came out. This invitation was too sudden. "I don't know," she said after she managed to control herself. "I am collecting information about the blueprint that you gave me; I don't know if I can leave Bon Temps,"

"He can go alone; you trust us, don't you?"

James had asked her several times if he could go to Dallas to see Godric and she did not give any answer yet. "I have to think about it," Sookie said. "This is too quick, Colin,"

"I know. The elders had just heard about James and they want to see him. I should have called, but I think this news is too important to talk about on phone,"

"You're right and I appreciate it; but still, I need time to think about and to talk about it with James,"

"I know," Colin said. He got up. "Do you think I can take a shower somewhere? I want to freshen up a little bit before I talk to the Sheriff,"

*****

After dinner, Sookie told Eric, James and her guests about her conversation with Grace. The werewolves did not seem to have a clue about what she was talking about.

"I've been to Avery Island, yeah," said one of the werewolves. "Never paid attention to the building so much. It's old and just like any other old buildings,"

Sookie was glad that Grace was not there. Otherwise, that man would hear a long and wide speech about the history of architecture.

"I can look around," Sam said. "Buildings like the one on the Avery Island must be easy to find."

"What was the name of the style again?" James asked.

"Romanesque Revivals," Sookie said.

James typed the name on the keyboard and soon he found some pictures of red building.

"Hey, I saw that old courthouse in Natchitoches once," said one of the werewolves – who was called 'Doc' by the others. "I think I even married there,"

Doc was a red-haired huge man. His arms were as big as Sookie's legs if not even bigger and covered with tattoos. "Nice girl," he said.

"You mean that crazy bitch that kicked your ass out of your own house when she caught you..." the sentence of the werewolf was stopped when he caught Sookie's eyes. Sookie could imagine what kind of flowery language those werewolves used, but the imagination that she would hear it in her own house in front of James had never come to her head. "Pardon, Ma'am," he said.

"You are very quiet, Sheriff," said Colin, made everybody turn their heads to Eric.

Eric, sitting at the edge of the table, wearing black top tank, did not open his mouth since the dinner was over. His long blond hair gleamed under the lamps' amber light. "Cecco would know," he said. "I believe some of his old books are still at his house,"

"Who is Cecco?" asked Colin.

"Somebody I knew," Eric said. His voice was cold, but Sookie could see he held back his emotion. His eyes were narrowing and his mouth moved as if he was biting his tongue. James stopped whatever he was doing with his laptop and looked at him. His blue eyes were bigger. _He looked like me? _

Sookie was shocked hearing James' thought. The wine glass that she was holding fell. The sound of the broken glass filled up the room, but not as loud as the sound of her pondering heart. It was so loud that she felt her heart had become alive and jumped out of her chest. James could hear Eric's thought. Sookie grabbed her chest. James could hear vampires' thought. The room started turning.

"Sookie, are you all right?"

Sookie heard somebody calling her name, but she did not know whom. A pair of cold hands touched her back before she was completely out of balance. Eric was behind her.

_You listened to my head,_ James' head was loud and clear. _You promised not to eavesdrop!_

"You didn't tell me," Sookie said. "All this time and you didn't tell me,"

"What, Lover?" Eric's voice was soft in her ears, but it didn't ease her feelings.

"You should have told me!"

_You didn't tell me either!_

"But I am your mother!"

Eric's hands on her shoulder were stiff. He knew to whom she was talking. Sookie believed everybody in the room now knew or were able to guess to whom she was talking. James closed his laptop and he must have wanted to leave when Sookie heard Eric growling,

"You stay where you are,"

The kitchen became quiet.

Sookie had already sat down. Her head was on Eric's cold un-beating chest. She realized how careless and stupid her reaction had been, now that the werewolves' eyes were on them. Sam tried to smile but he failed. He seemed to know or maybe he could guess what had happened. James was standing beside the table, avoiding any eye contact with anybody.

_The sheriff acted as if he was the father of the boy, _Sookie heard Colin talking in his head. _Why Sookie let him do that? And why does Little Brother obey him? He's not afraid of him, is he?_

"This is not the time for having personal matter interfering," Eric said; his voice was as cold as ever. "We have a bigger matter to deal with and I advise everybody to focus on that matter. James, are you able to concentrate on your brothers' problem or do you still want to leave this room?"

"I'll stay," James answered without looking at Eric.

"Good. Take your seat."

Slowly James sat down.

Eric kissed Sookie's head and said, "Francesco was a dear friend of mine. He was an architect just like this Richardson. If I am not mistaken, all his books and works must have been stored at his place. Some of you can go there by day and I will try to go there by dark,"

"Where is his house?"

"At Jardin Buffon,"

"Jardin Buffon?!" Sookie straightened her body. Not that god forsaken place again!

"You seem to know that place, Sookie," said Colin.

"Yes, I do and so do all the werewolves in this area," said Sookie. "I don't think that anybody will go there, day or night," she looked at Eric. "I am not sure that you will be welcomed too, Eric,"

Eric lifted his eyebrow. "Godric and Godric's son are always welcomed to enter the woods,"

"Didn't he tell you?" Sookie was surprised.

"Who is Godric?" asked Colin.

"The Sheriff of Dallas," said Eric. "A friend," he continued with his eyes fixed at James, who was opening his mouth ready to answer. "No, he doesn't say anything about Francesco's place. I might as well ask him,"

"It would be very helpful to know if your friend Cecco knew anything about the building," Colin. "It would be such a great loss if we weren't able to get any information from the blueprint that my brother Jake had stolen. My gut told me, my brother was harmed from his action," Then, he was quiet. There was something that he hid, but Sookie didn't want to listen to his head as she saw James giving her a warning look not to.

"You can count on us, Sheriff," said Doc. "Whether the Long Tooth chooses to put their tails between their legs or not, we are ready for you,"

"I can go there tomorrow," said James. "I can take my laptop with me and compare the books with the pictures,"

"Modern technology will not work there," said Sookie. She wanted to say that she did not want James to enter the woods, but she knew if she forbade him in front of everybody, it would only be lowering his self-esteem.

"Then I will print out the pictures and take them with me," James looked at Eric, "If that's cool with you, Sheriff," his eyes were big and full of hope. Something told Sookie, James was playing his card as Eric's son, trying to soften his father's non-existing heart. She clenched her teeth. Like father, like son.

"We'll talk about it," Eric said.

"Now?"

Eric's eyes were narrowing. "Don't you have something about Rodney that you want to show your captain?" He gave Sookie a very calculating look as if he wanted to blame her for James' behaviour. Sookie threw him the same look. _He's your son, don't act as if you were surprised!_

Suddenly James stood up. "I'll print this out," he said and then ran out of the kitchen.

Doc followed him with eyes and grinned. "He is a hot blooded young man," he said. "I have to admit, I was in doubt when I heard that Colin chose a Long Tooth to be our brother. Then, I saw him at that café and I thought, with that face and his smell – which I admit he has such a strong one for a young man, he could break my marriage record,"

"No offence Doc," one of the werewolves grinned. "If it was about your face only, it would be very easy to break your marriage records,"

The werewolves laughed. Sookie could not help but grin. She admired the way these Hounders mocked themselves.

Not so long, James returned with some pieces of paper. He had made three copies of the data about Rodney, which was to Sookie's surprised, was written on three pages. What had Bill written about him?

James gave a copy for Colin, one for Cooper and the last one for Sam. Then, he gave Eric and Sookie a sign that he was ready to talk to them. "I want to go to Texas," he said as they went to upstairs. "I want to see Godric's place! He told me nice things about it, I can't wait to see it!"

Eric opened the window as soon as they entered Aude's room.

"Wow, this is a big room," James said, looking around. "I would put a huge flat screen TV if I were you, there beside the mirror. This room..." Before he could finish his sentence, Eric grabbed him and Sookie and flew through the window. Sookie grabbed Eric's arm, closed her eyes and screamed. Eric should have told her that he wanted to fly; at least she could prepare her heart!

Sookie did not know where Eric had taken them. When she opened her eyes, she saw nothing but darkness. The wind blew strongly and there were noises around them, like two objects stood close with each other, and moved against each other. As her eyes were adjusted, she realized they were on a branch of a tree.

James was sitting on another branch in front of her. "What are we doing here?" he asked.

"We'll talk," Eric said. He sat beside her, which she appreciated very much; otherwise, she would have gotten a panic attack.

"On a tree?!"

Sookie would like to know too.

"Werewolves and shifters can hear very well," Eric said. "I don't want them to hear anything that we are about to say,"

"I have no secret in front of them,"

"You should,"

"I don't want to,"

"You should have something for yourself, a little secret that only you know it. It will keep a mysterious eerie around you, make people respect you and make you unpredictable. You will have enemies, my son, whether you want it or not because you cannot and will not please everybody. I respect your wish to be a part of a werewolf pack as we talked about and I respect your wish to live the way they live. You are not a vampire and as long as you wish it, I will not turn you into one. It will break my heart because one day as your mother will do, you will leave me.

But my son, you have to be an individual to be accepted as their leader..."

"I am not their leader," James cut Eric's sentence. "I don't know anything about them,"

"You are wearing their leader's necklace and covered yourself with his blood," Eric sniffed. "One way or the other, they or other werewolves will take you as their leader,"

"What should I do?"

"Listen and learn," said Eric. "Challenging somebody who is stronger and older than you is also not a wise decision,"

Eric meant Bill.

"I don't like him," James said. "He cannot stop thinking about Mom. It bothers me when somebody else thinks about Mom the way he does. Except..." Sookie could not see James' face, but she was sure that he was blushing now. "...you..."

Sookie felt her knees weak. James could listen to vampires' mind, she was sure now. It explained his behaviour around Eric. He was not afraid of him; he did not feel comfortable listening to what his father thought about his mother. Knowing Eric, he must have thought some sexual things about her. It also explained from where James had known that the murder victim at Fangtasia had been a werewolf.

"You can hear what we say inside our heads?" Eric asked. His voice was deep and growling. It sounded as if he wanted to keep his emotion under control.

"Yes. Since I was a child. Godric told me not to tell anybody because no vampire will like it if they find out what I can do,"

"He's damn right!" said Sookie. In her heart, she cursed Godric for not telling her.

"It had not been so clear like lately," James said. "It was more like coming and going...you know, like you are listening to a radio, which is not really tuned. I could only get a part of the thoughts. But after I drank your blood, I could hear everything. It's like they are talking to me,"

Sookie and Eric looked at each other. Was it bad or good? Sookie could not say. It was bad enough for her that she could hear the human thought. Now her son could listen to the vampires' thought. What would happen if they found out, by 'they' she meant human and vampires. How long would James be able to keep this secret to himself?

"Please, say something," James pleaded. "I feel like a freak,"

"Don't say that," Sookie said, sadly. "You are my son, hey you must get some of my bad things too," she tried to make a joke.

"Your mother is right," Eric said. "She has a lot of bad things that drive me mad,"

"Yeah, right," James said, possibly rolling his eyes. "That's why you can't stop thinking about her,"

"If one day you do the same, conquer that woman. Do whatever it takes to make her yield to you,"

"That is a very bad advice for your son, Eric," Sookie said, annoyed.

"You didn't seem to disagree with the way I made you yield to me," Eric smirked.

"If only you knew..."

"Guys, hello? We are on the top of a tree now, can't you stop arguing? Can we continue the conversation on the ground, like a normal family?" Then, James laughed, nervously. "We are not exactly a normal family, are we?"

Sookie smiled. No, not exactly.

"What else had Godric said?" asked Eric.

"That I should concentrate and pretend not to understand anything,"

"Then listen to him and do what he said," slowly Eric rose. "We have to return now. We don't want to make the werewolves suspicious that we are not in the house,"

Eric grabbed them both and with what Sookie felt like one leap, they landed on Aude's room again.

"Does it mean it's okay if I go to Texas?"

"Yes, you may..."

"Tack, Papa!" James held Eric tightly, he seemed to ignore Eric's next words, "...if your mother allows you..." Sookie did not see any other chance, but to agree. James freed himself from Eric and ran downstairs. Almost screaming he said, "Cooper, I am going to Texas!"

"That boy..." Sookie sighed.

"Godric will watch over him," Eric said. "Don't worry,"

They went to downstairs. Sookie tried the best she could to act the same, but the thought about James' ability was heavily wedging her mind, made her unable to think about anything else. She did not realize that James was now standing beside Colin with an unpleasant look. Bill was there in the kitchen. He looked as hard as James did.

"André Paul is expecting you, Sheriff," Bill said in an official manner. "He is waiting for your invitation to enter your house,"

*****


	22. Of Vampires and Foxes

Twenty-One

**Of Vampire and Fox  
**

Five werewolves surrounded André Paul. They were spreading their legs and arms, bowing their backs and snarling. The vampire himself was spreading his arms and letting out his fangs.

André was an old vampire. His human body, which looked slim and fragile, served him as a perfect cover. Very often, many of his enemies had underestimated his power. They thought they were able break the skinny and fragile looking boy easily. When they found out that they were wrong, mostly it was too late for them. That skinny boy had already bored his fangs into their necks and the last thing they would have seen was a sinister smile on his innocent face.

He had been made by The Queen of Louisiana, once had been called as Judith in the cold foggy early morning five hundreds and some years ago, when the weak light of pale moon hung over the leaves of tree in the depth of wood somewhere in France. Running away from his master, who had sold his body to any customers who wanted him – women or men, André felt more than being blessed when a young Lady, not much older than he himself was, offered him a new life as her child, her lover and her slave. He did not think twice when that gentle Lady had asked him if he wanted to follow her to whatever ends and to obey her to do her bidding.

A gentle lady, who now needed him more than ever.

He could have killed those five unworthy werewolves in one movement, but not now, not there on the ground of Sheriff of Area 5. Eric Northman, the Sheriff of Area 5 was not only older than he was, but he was also a very dangerous and worthy opponent. He had heard stories about him; how Eric Northman single-handedly killed entire members of a vampire nest because they had challenged his authority.

André knew he had to be careful, otherwise, he would achieve neither what he wanted nor survive the anguish of the Queen.

"My Lord André," a deep voice of Sheriff Area 5 broke his attention. He hated the way the Sheriff addressed him with 'My Lord'. There was a hidden cynical tone in it, he knew it, the Sheriff knew it, and nevertheless he had to swallow his pride with a smile.

"Sheriff," he said and then nodded at the female human who was standing beside him. A human with a very seducing smell that coming from her not yet closed wounds on her neck, a smell, which made him uneasy to concentrate. He kissed his hand and send the kiss through the air for her. "Sookie, _enchanté_,"

Beside Sookie was her son, a boy with a strange look in his eyes, a look that told him as if he knew what he was thinking. André felt more uncomfortable around him than around the mother. In his mother's body ran blood that he was dying to taste, but still, he could control himself not to do any harm by biting her or injuring her. The night he had smelt her blood he swore to himself that he would taste it one day, with or without her permission. He had seen how the Sheriff greedily sucking her blood and its smell, which reached his nose, drove him mad. He would have gone to them if Judith had not stopped him.

The boy, on the other hand, he was not sure. The boy's eyes, as blue as the Sheriff's, would look into his eyes, and tore him apart and read every little secret he had kept through the years. He did not feel safe in front of the boy, and he hated to have such a feeling. He had once had those feelings, when he had been still a human. He swore not to have those feelings again the day he had been turned.

If that boy had not been Sookie's son, André would have killed him the day his eyes had laid upon him. Nobody – human or vampires gave him such a feeling and survived.

"Gentlemen, I believe you all may leave," Sheriff said.

Slowly the werewolves moved away and they finally left when the boy nicked. Those beasts listened to the boy's command. It made him more dangerous than ever. He had to keep eye on him.

"Welcome, André," Sookie said. "Please, come in,"

"Merçi," he said, smiling. So, the rumour was true. The mansion belonged to the female human and not to the Sheriff. That was interesting. His eyes met the boy's. André shuddered. It would not be an easy night for him, but his gentle lady needed him. The ghost of their pasts, Judith said once, would never leave them. Sooner or later, he had to face it, Judith once said. It seemed like that time was tonight, inside those blue eyes of a human boy.

*****

Vampires surprised her every time. It did not really matter how long or how closed she got to know one, Sookie was always surprised by the fact that they did not grow older. Their youth – if they had been turned young – was well-preserved.

André Paul was one of those who had been turned young. Just like Godric, he could be somebody son. He had a heart shaped face with almond eyes. His hair was dark brown and curly. He had a rather small nose with red lips. He must have never had a chance to smoke when he had been human. He was two or three inches shorter than James. On other place and time, they could have been schoolmates or maybe even best friends, but on this life time, it looked as if they could not stand each other. Their eyes were flickering and loathing at each other every time they met, a scene, which did not really bring peaceful thoughts to Sookie's mind.

André smiled most of the time, but his green grey eyes were cold. He looked like a person who did not want anybody to get near to him by building some kind of wall on his face. His smile was not a sign of friendliness, but more like a sign of hospitality or even some kind of borderline that should not be crossed.

The living room where they were sitting looked dimmed in Sookie's eyes. The amber lights from the old lamps gave nothing, but a little brightness. Eric must have chosen the lights. If it had been Aude, the lights would have been brighter and more colourful. Had Eric chosen them because they did not give strong light, or was it because it resembled of the early morning light?

The faces in the room were as dimmed as the light. André was sitting on the chair, staring on the ground. His half-opened eyes gave a melancholic view, which somehow made Sookie feel pity for him. In his quietness, he looked more and more like a sad teenager. Bill, standing beside him with his arms crossed, looked thoughtful, if not worried. Eric sat beside her with his hand in front of his mouth. James, who had insisted to say and after some angry changing looks between him and André and finally had been able to push his will through, was sitting across André, looking at him without blinking. Eric wanted James to listen to what André or Bill might think, of course, he had not said that, but Sookie knew Eric well enough to be able to draw that conclusion. James might be, in fact, listening to their thoughts at the moment. Colin was also there, standing beside the door, watching both vampires with high alert. The way he stood still reminded Sookie of a Doberman who was ordered to guard a gate. He stood straight with arms crossed and face a little bit raised.

"This is a matter of discretion," André said. His English was much better than the Queen was, but there was still a light accent in it, just like Eric's. "Her Majesty is not able to perform her duty at the moment," he looked at Eric. "According to the rule, it would be I who should continue the daily rules, but I am afraid I would not be able to,"

"And why is that, André?" asked Sookie. He was after all, the Queen's secretary.

"Eric is older than I am," said André. "He is the Sheriff of Area 5, one of the biggest areas in the New World and the second oldest in Louisiana," he nicked at Eric.

"I never want to be involved with the matter of the Court," Eric said. "I had been dead for fifteen years, André. I know almost nothing of what had happened. You are Her Majesty's closest person; you know her wishes and her planning. I think it would be wise if you are the one who takes over the daily rules,"

Sookie did not expect that answer. She always thought Eric would jump on any possibility of having power in his hand. He seemed like a person who liked bossing around and getting whatever he wanted done,

"I can't," André said.

Eric lifted his eyebrow.

"I want to find out what is happening to Her Majesty," he said. "Because if it can happen to an old vampire like Her Majesty herself, it will be easily happening to any of us,"

He was right and Eric seemed to agree with him.

"Who runs the palace now?"

"Nobody," André said. "I ordered Siegbert and Wybert to take care of her," The image of those two giant vampires flashed in Sookie's eyes. "They may not leave her alone and I do hope Her Majesty is not strong enough to order them otherwise,"

"I hope they can refuse her order," Sookie said. "I mean you are not supposed to follow crazy orders, are you?"

"Orders are orders," said Eric.

"No, they cannot," said André, smiling. "They have to follow her order. Elle est leur maman," His voice sounded melancholic when he said 'maman', as if that word had never really existed in his vocabulary. Had he never known his mother? "I will need your assistant, Sookie," he said.

"How am I supposed to help, André? I don't know much about vampires, except what I know from Eric," From the corner of her eyes, she saw Eric lifting his eyebrow and smirking. "I am not sure if my knowledge about Eric would be enough to help you,"

"I don't trust anybody," André said, "yet," he continued quickly, "Her Majesty trusted you very much. Therefore I believe I can trust you too,"

"Thank you,"

"Her condition is worsening day by day," he said. "It breaks my heart to see her beside herself like that. She refuses any advice to sleep longer or to drink the True Blood less. Her human companions told me; sometimes she did not even drink any fresh blood. Then, she would wander around the corridor early in the morning, waiting for the sun. The human servants have to force her back to the cellar so that she would not get burned,"

"How?"

"With the silver chain,"

Eric and Bill hissed, whilst Colin snarled. Silver was a deadly material for both vampires and werewolves. They did not trust aluminium foil either. Its resemblance with the silver brought fear to their hearts whether they were willing to admit it or not.

"She is the ruler of this area and not a beast," André said. "But if she cannot control herself like that, I would rather see her being treated as a beast."

"What has Her Majesty dined lately?" asked Eric. "We all drink True Blood and none of us shows any sign of madness," André's eyes flickered as he heard what Eric said, "There must be more than that,"

"I prefer fresh more than True Blood," André smiled. The light in his eyes and the shape of his mouth made his face look sinister in Sookie's eyes. He said it with a lust in his voice as if he was imagining drinking somebody.

_Asshole!_

Sookie heard James cursing in his head. She looked at him and saw James staring at André. She realized whom André was imagining, but still, she did not like the idea hearing James cursing like that. She made a mental note to talk to the werewolves to 'cultivate' their language a little bit when they were around James.

"Her Majesty's appetite for True Blood has been growing bigger lately," André said. "Not just a regular True Blood, but the True Blood which are produced in Louisiana by NIC."

It was not the first time that Sookie heard the name NIC and she had a feeling, it would not be the last time either.

"Tell me about NIC," said Eric. "I don't know anything about that company any more. I don't even know if my name still has meaning,"

"Unfortunately, not any more, Eric,"

Eric said something in Old Norse. Nobody understood what it meant, maybe except James who was biting his lips with eyes as big as a saucer. It must have been a curse or something because James was trying so hard not to smile.

"After you...died," Bill suddenly said (Eric lifted his eyebrow when he heard the word 'died'), "...Sookie as the main shareholders gave all her rights to Pam and Godric. They had sold their part, if I am not mistaken, because they did not want to take part of the changing that the company were making,"

"What changing?"

"Selling the shares to human," Bill said. "They believed it's a mistake. They said that you did not wish to have human shareholders except they were vampires' husbands or wives'."

"That's true,"

"Now there are only some vampires left. Some kings and queens, including Her and His Majesty. NIC is not as big as before after the crisis,"

"Crisis? What crisis?"

"Black Thursday...you still remember?" asked Bill.

"Yes,"

"More or less like that," said Bill. "That's when many vampires decided to sell their shares to human,"

"What is Black Thursday?" asked Sookie.

Bill, André, and Eric looked at her as if they were looking at an endangered species. Their eyes were wide open and the expression of disbelief on their faces made her very uncomfortable.

"October 1929 when the world stock market crashed down...It was Thursday; that was why it was called Black Thursday. It led to economical disaster which you will know it as "The Great Depression"... you did not learn this at school?"

Sookie opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She tried to find help by looking at James and then at Colin, but both of them avoiding her stares. _Oh, where is Sam when you need him? _Thought Sookie.

"No," Sookie said, unsure. "You are talking as if you had been there!"

"I was there," said Bill and André at the same time. Eric smirked only.

"How can I forget!" Sookie rolled her eyes. _Of course they were._

"Anyway," Bill continued. "NIC is a smaller company now and they are focusing on health and pharmacy. The other parts of the company had been sold and I don't follow its development,"

"Did you bring any example from the True Blood that Her Majesty drinks, André?"

"No," André said. "I stop ordering them since Her Majesty has fallen ill, I am sorry. I can order some new ones,"

"Maybe you shall,"

"What are we going to do with it?"

"We are not going to do anything. I will send it to Japan and ask Haru if he can examine it for us. In the meantime, I can only advise you not to drink any True Blood,"

Bill hesitated. "I had a planning to go mainstream," he said with a low voice.

"Mainstream?"

"To live like a human," said Eric with cynical tone. "Why am I not surprised?"

"I am not the only one, Eric; many of us want to live peacefully with human and any other supernatural. If the people of Louisiana can produce True Blood, I think it would be better for us because we don't have to wait for the supply from New York or any other places,"

"So you will continue drinking True Blood?" asked Eric.

"Yes, unless it is declared unsafe for us to drink it,"

"My friend," Eric stared at Bill. "I would stop earlier, if I were you,"

******

James looked at André Paul with disgust. He did not understand a word what that vampire said in his head because he was using a language he was not familiar with. Papa said many time in his head not to stare at the guest too obvious like that. André would get suspicious. Mom looked too occupied to realize how vampire Bill stared at her with such a creepy look in his eyes. In his head he mostly sighed and called Mom.

_Asshole! _He cursed in his heart and soon regretted it because this time, Mom heard it. She did not seem please with the expression. He should have been more careful.

Colin was standing some steps away from him. He did not give much reaction, but James could feel it. Colin was restless. Something was bothering him. Did he want to ask André something? About Rodney perhaps? Should he ask André about it? He tried to give a sign to Colin, but useless. Colin seemed to ignore him. Papa gave again a warning in his head that he should concentrate or he'd better leave the room.

Maybe a little bit later, when André's conversation with Papa was over. He did not understand much; but one thing he understood, it was a serious matter. He had to wait.

When the conversation was finally over, he decided to ask. Should he call André 'André' or Lord André as Papa did? André would be just fine, he thought. He did not look much older than Godric anyway. Godric did not like to be addressed "Opa".

"André..." he said as André was standing up.

André looked at him. He did not like to be stared like that. André looked at him as if he had done something wrong. What had he done anyway? Since the first time that they met, André had already given him the feeling that he hated him. They had never spoken before, they had never even met and he already hated him?!

"Yes, Master James?"

Why did André call him 'Master'?

_Be careful, my son._

"Mister Compton..." he cleared his throat. "Bill...gave me a data about Tom Rodney last night,"

"Yes?"

"How had he end up at the Palace, in my mother's closet?"

André's eyes blinked. He was nervous. "In your mother's closet?" he looked at Mom, who nodded. "My apology, Madame. I had never thought that there was an intruder in your room,"

"It's not exactly my mother's closet, but we came with the Sheriff ..."

He hated calling Papa with 'the sheriff'; it sounded so...blah. He preferred 'Papa' more. He wished he could do that any time, anywhere. Okay, for the first weeks he had been angry with him and Mom, especially on the first day when they had met. That vampire, who was introduced to him as 'your father' by Mom was cold and distant. In his head, he thought nothing but sucking Mom's blood and fucking her. That was disgusting. 'Fucking', that vampire used that word over and over again. He even thought he would do it in front of that boy (meant him) if necessary.

As he reached home, he decided to call Godric and told him what happened. Godric told him to stay away from Eric and to think about what he really felt about it. He was not allowed to contact his father. "He needs time to understand everything," Godric said. "He will accept you when he's ready."

"Don't make him do it," he said. "You can do that, can't you?"

"As his maker, I can make him do whatever I am pleased; but forcing him to accept you is not one of them, my friend," he said. "Be patient. You have his strength, trust me on this."

Two weeks he had to wait until Godric finally called him and asked him to prepare himself. Any day, he would meet Eric, he said. "You have to be patient," again Godric said. "He is just like a new born baby," then Godric laughed. "He had always been a baby, especially when he had to face the women that he loved,"

"So he did loved my mother,"

"More than he realized, my friend. More than he realized. But don't ask him that, he will not give you any straight answer,"

Somehow, he loved being around Papa. He was big and strong. Everybody respected him, if not even afraid of him, even Pam. She was Papa's friend, who was also his lover, even when it had happened centuries ago. She did not really show it, but he could tell from her little gestures here and there Pam was afraid of him, or using her own word, 'respect'. The only one who did not show any fear and sometimes even acted as if Papa was under her thumb was Mom. He had seen her slapping Papa once, when he tried to kiss her by the pool. Papa was pissed because he had wanted to take her to the room and ….he had to stop listening to Papa's thought because it was too much for him to listen to a man thinking doing things to Mom, even when that man was his own father.

_Concentrate, my son._

Suddenly he heard Papa's voice. He cleared his thought and forced himself to look at André as if nothing had happened. "...it was my mother's closet..."

"I know what you mean..." André cut his sentence. "He was a member of His Majesty's party,"

"That's not what his file said,"

André smiled, but James could see his fangs were out. Colin moved a step forward. Not like the other Hounders, Colin's skin did not show any grey hair. He did not even show his canine teeth, but there was a yellow slit in his eyes. James bit his teeth. He heard André saying something in his head and from his tone it did not sound so encouraging, as if he was laughing at Colin.

James gave Colin a sign to step backward with his head. He did not want anything bad happen to Colin. He looked at Papa for a hint what he should do. Papa looked at him back and said in his head, _ask him what you want to know, politely. André senses you and he doesn't like what he senses. Don't encourage him to do something bad to you and tell your dog to calm down._

"What did the file say?" André asked, smiling. James hated that smile; it looked so fake.

"That he was found in St. Rose Street."

"St. Rose Street on the East Bank?" asked Mom.

"Yes," James said. "Does East Bank belong to the King or to the Queen?"

"Everything inside Louisiana belongs to Her Majesty,"

_Well, I don't. _James wanted to argue, but a sharp look from his father stopped him. "How did he become the member of His Majesty's party?"

"His Majesty asked for him," he said. "He was very good in using his sensory capability. He could see, smell and hear amazingly well,"

That explained how Rodney had been able to track him down.

"Pity, that you had to kill him, Sheriff,"

Colin who had been quiet the whole time moved towards Papa. "You killed him?"

"I did," answered Papa, with a coolness that he admired. Godric had told him that Papa had been a Viking warrior. Dying after the great battle against the raiders which attacked his village, his companions had taken him somewhere deep in the jungle, trying to avoid the raiders. Godric had killed his companions – two red haired Viking, whose bodies were burned and buried in a Viking ceremony by Papa in the next night after he had fed his first human. Godric said, even in his dying breath, Papa had challenged him for a duel. Papa knew no fear, not in his human life, let alone in his undead one.

James heard a sound of snarling and something was cracking behind him. Colin was transforming. "He asked Sheriff to..." he said fast. "Rodney...Rodney had asked Sheriff to kill him. He did not want to continue his life as a half-life..."

"Did he?" the smile of André's face was wider. James could really smack that face if only Mom's eyes had not been at him.

James turned around and faced Colin. He did not know where he got the idea, but he touched Colin's hand, which was slowly covered by grey hair. His dark grey eye turned slowly into yellow. "He asked for help, Colin." he said. Then he repeated the word he had heard spoken in Rodney's head, "He said, he had followed the call, walked down his path...and something about teaching others. He also said, it was his time to visit The Great Plain,"

His yellowish eyes were slowly returning to their original colour. The grey hair that covered his hand was also disappearing. "I should have trusted your word, Little Brother," he said. Without saying any word, Colin left the room.

The next thing they heard was a loud howling that was answered by others. Soon, the sound of howling from Northman Mansion was answered by different howling which seemed coming from the woods.

James' skin crawled. The house and its surrounding were full with the sound of howling. The werewolves were mourning. They had lost one of their great members and not knowing why, James suddenly felt very sad. Tears rolled down on his face and when he realized what had happened to him, he left the room and went out side.

"James!" he heard Mom calling his name, but he ignored her. He wanted to be with the Hounders.

Six big grey wolves were sitting on the garden's ground. They all faced in the direction of the wood and howled. James sat beside them. He wiped off his tears, which did not seem to stop running. He wanted to howl like them, but he knew he could not. He patted the head of the wolf beside him and said, "I am sorry, Brother. I am so sorry,"

Suddenly one of the wolves stood up. His ears were standing and then he ran like a flash. The other wolves stopped howling. They were in a high alert position. Their figures were straight, their ears were standing, one of them, the biggest of them all, showing his canine teeth in menacing way. His yellow eyes flickered like a pair of torches. James could only tell from his smell that he was Colin. He wondered what made them so intense like that.

His question was answered immediately as something ran very fast towards them...or him, more likely. Something small...a cat or something. He could not catch a glimpse of what coming towards him because it moved very fast.

James stood up. If that thing was a wild animal, it would be better if he was on his foot so that he could run if he had to.

Something touched his legs. James looked down and found an orange reddish animal standing between his legs. It was not much bigger than a cat and did not seem to be heavier either. For a moment, he thought that it would bite him, but then he realized that the animal was shaking. It put its tail behind its leg and whimpered.

The werewolves were surrounding him. They snarled and made gestures as if they were ready to jump on him.

James took the animal into his arms. To his surprised, it weighed heavier than he had thought. He never heard that wild animals were willing to have anybody contact with people. Strange, this animal seemed to be more terrified at the werewolves than at him. It did not shock him, nevertheless. Those six big wolves now were looking at him and the animal and they seemed to be ready to attack him and the fox. He had to take it away from there, away from the werewolves.

"Easy..." he said, nervously. "Easy, Brothers..."

One of them stepped forward and snarled.

"Brother..." he held the animal tighter. He could hear it starting to whimper. He had to go now. "I'll go inside now..."

The werewolf returned into his human form. It was Doc. "Be careful, Little Brother," he said. "I don't trust foxes,"

"Fox..." James looked at the animal and nervously stroked its head. "I like foxes..." it's a lie. He had never seen a fox before, well maybe once or twice at the zoo, but never so closed like this.

The werewolves broke the circle and let him pass. Doc followed him with his eyes. He was back in his human form all right, but the grey hair was still on his skin and his eyes were not blue, but yellow. The sinister look that he had on his chubby scared James more than the growling and the snarling from the other werewolves did to him.

James ran inside as fast as possible. He did not want to be around them too long, just in case they changed their mind.

"James, what is that?" Mom asked as he was in the kitchen.

"A fox," he said. "I have to save it from the werewolves. They wanted to attack it,"

"For good reasons," said Papa. "I don't like animals in my house,"

"Well, I do." James said, and then he ran to upstairs.

"James...it's dangerous..." he heard Mom saying, almost screaming, but he did not care. He had to take the fox to his room. He would blame himself if the werewolves managed to lay their paws on its small body.

He smashed his door as soon as he was inside the room. He put down the fox. "You're safe now," he said. "You can stay here for the night and tomorrow we go to the woods together, right?" He stroked the head. "You're so small; I'd never seen a fox so small like you,"

The fox sat on the floor. Its orange eyes were looking at him. It was licking its mouth.

"I hope you're not thirsty or something," he said. "I forgot to take something to drink and to tell you the truth; I don't want to go downstairs. Mom will ask a lot of questions, I am sure of it."

The fox came to him and rubbed its body on his legs.

He picked up the fox and brought it to bed. He knew he should have not done that. Bringing a wild animal on his bed was dangerous. There were too many germs, bacteria or maybe even disease, but this fox looked clean. It was as if it belonged to somebody. "You're too clean for a wild animal," he touched its long mouth. "Do you belong to someone?"

The fox licked his hand.

James chuckled. "No, you don't belong to me," he put it on his chest. Jeez, this fox was heavy. "I have to convince Mom first, you know. It won't be easy, I can tell you. Mom is a strong minded woman. Laffy could tell you a lot of stories, if you want to hear. Who's Laffy? Oh, he's Mom's best friend...." Then he continued talking about Laffy and his boyfriend, Joseph, how he liked them and how they had always been there for him, whenever he needed them and on and on until he felt tired and could not open his mouth any more. He put down the fox and hugged it tight. "Don't worry, Swift, yes, that's your name now because you ran so fast, you'll be safe here, with me." He closed his eyes. He was so tired...all these tensions, concentration and even crying for somebody he did not even know felt like taking away his power. He should have taken off his jeans, Mom would not like it if she saw him sleeping in his dirty jeans. He let go Swift, opened his jeans and threw it on the floor. He also opened his t-shirt. He slept better if he slept in his boxer only. Since he was a child, he always felt that the air was too hot for him, even in wintertime. He rarely wore the pyjama that Mom gave him. They were too thick and made him sweaty. So when Mom left the room he always took them off.

He hugged Swift. Its orange fur was soft and warm. "Good night, Swift. Promise me not to leave the room, okay? Tomorrow I'll take you to the woods....now..." he wanted to say something, but his words were lost somewhere between his tongue and his lips. His eyes were getting heavier and he did not see anything any more.

It must have been early morning when James felt the air was colder. His back was cold, but his chest was not. It was warm and cosy. He smiled. Swift was still there. He hugged it tighter. Hmh...its fur was soft and warm...too soft...he stroked its back...moment. Why did Swift's back become longer....he opened his eyes....oh my god! It was not Swift! He rubbed his eyes to make sure that he was not seeing things.

No, it was not Swift the Fox. It was...a girl, a woman....black haired...woman and she was naked.

Oh, no...what should he do? Should he call Mom or Papa? Not a good idea. They would freak out. What about the Hounders. Not a good idea either. How to explain that a naked woman was on his bed?

His heart was racing. His hands were shaking. What should he do?

That body moved. She sighed. Her voice was soft.

_Please, don't wake up. _

James looked at her. Her back, which was not covered by her hair was white and soft. Her hip was small and her ass...his heart jumped. He had never seen a naked woman's ass before. He imagined how it looked like sometimes, but never really saw it. Yeah, he saw some of them in magazines or newspaper, but not in real life. Her ass looked beautiful, round and firm. He wondered how it felt to touch it. He reached out his hand, but some inches before his hands landed on her ass, he took it back.

No, he may not do that. It was not right. No, no, no.

He pulled his hair. Something was growing and he knew what it was. His dick was stiff like a stick now, like every morning when he wanted to go to pee. But he did not want to go to pee now, still it was big and stiff. He pressed his dick with a hope that it would go smaller, but it did not work. What happened to him? Was that what they called a hard-on? Yeah, he believed it was.

She moved again; and this time she turned around, showed her front part.

James' jaw dropped. She had the most beautiful breasts he had ever seen. If he put his hands on them, he believed his hands would cover them perfectly. They were white and the nipples were pink with a mocha circle around them. Her stomach was flat...his eyes were trailing downward...she had black hair too between her legs; it had a shape like a triangle.

"Oh.." James covered his mouth before he let out another moan. He felt something rushing from his head down to his dick, like water which want to break down a dam. _Shit, shit, shit! _He forced himself to look at her face. He wanted to know who she was.

Her black hair covered her face. The dim light of his night desk lamp did not help either.

Carefully James laid himself down. Not wanting to wake her up, he removed the hair that cover her face softly and carefully. He did not know whether he should be screaming for joy or shocked.

That woman was Victoria Luna, the police detective from Shreveport, the one who looked at him as if she wanted to spit at him. The one who bothered him for a long time already because every time she was around, and it was not that often, maybe twice or three times, she was always smelt of vanilla. When he ate cookies or ice cream with vanilla flavour, his thought was running to her. Every time he remembered her, and it was quite often these days because Mom had a lot of things with vanilla scents – cookies, ice creams, some of her perfumes, soap...his heart beat faster and he became nervous.

Now she was with him, naked on his bed.

What should he do?

Suddenly she opened her eyes.

James could not move. Her green eyes were shining bright, as if she could look through into his heart and find out what was inside his head.

"I need a cloth," she said.

"Yeah, right." James said. _Shit! _He cursed when he realized that he was still having a hard-on. It was embarrassing and very uncomfortable to walk. Clumsily he took one of his t-shirts and gave it to her. After that he stood far away from her. He did not want her to see that his dick was big and hard and it was building a tent.

She put the t-shirt on and then rolled her hair. Now she looked like the detective he knew. "Thank you," she said.

"Ehem," he said.

She looked at him and somehow her eyes landed on his boxer, but she did not say anything. Somehow James thanked her for that. Any comment about his condition now would make his head explode because of shame.

"Thank you for taking me in," she got down from the bed. "Now I have to go out of here,"

"Yeah...ehm...how?"

"You can help me with that, can't you?"

"Yeah...right...how?"

She looked at him. "You can take me downstairs and take me to the woods and set me free,"

"Yeah..." he scratched his head. "How did you get in here?"

"I am the fox,"

"You...the fox...is there such a thing like werefox?"

"I don't know. I don't even know what I am. I just have to think about an animal and I can become one of them,"

"You're a shifter,"

"A shifter?"

"Yes. Somebody who can change their shape into an animal, at least that's what my friend Godric said,"

"Godric seems to know a lot,"

"Yes, he is a vampire. A very old one and he knows a lot of things,"

"Your mother's boyfriend is a vampire," her tone changed. It sounded cold and disgusted.

"I know, and he's cool,"

Victoria snorted. She walked closer towards him. "Can you get me out of here?"

James was getting more nervous. "Yes," He moved backward and felt his back was against the wall. Some more steps and she would be too close for him and somehow he wanted her to do that. He wanted to feel her body close to his. He wanted to touch her...now his dick was getting warm. He could not think any more, heh, he could not even breathe properly any more, let alone think! Her smell, her naked legs...her nipples, which poked out his t-shirt. His t-shirt! He swore if she returned that t-shirt he would never wash it for the rest of his life.

"How old are you?" she moved forward.

"Fourteen..." suddenly he felt miserable. "But I'll be fifteen next year, according to werewolves' rule, I'll be an adult...and I am a member of a werewolves pack..." he felt more and more miserable. That was a lame excuse and she knew it. "How old are you?"

"Never ask a woman her age," she said, moving closer. "And I really have to go now..."

"Yeah..er..." James wanted to leave his spot, but Victoria did not move so he changed his mind and waited for her to move. If she did, he would take her into his arms, the way he had done to Swift the Fox.

And she did.

Suddenly he was numb. He could not move, let alone do what he wanted. His muscles seemed to refuse to do anything. He even closed his eyes when she was getting closer and closer and was afraid to breathe as he heard her whispering, "I have to go,"

"I can't take you down, not now," James said. Not with a hard-on like that. The Hounders would laugh and nick him endlessly if they saw him.

"I don't want your mother to find me here,"

"I will not tell anybody," James said. Her vanilla scent overwhelmed him, made him unable to think. "We can wait until it's a little bit brighter," he forced himself to concentrate. "I can take you to the woods on foot. My brothers will not dare to stop me,"

For a moment, the room was quiet. James did not hear anything else, but the beatings of his own heart and her soft warm breath.

Suddenly she moved away.

"Don't go," he was begging her. "Not now, please…"

"I have to go," she was standing beside the window.

"Not now, please…" James felt miserable. If she left now, he did not know when they could see each other again and god only knows how long it would be until they met.

She shook her head. Her black hair rippled like the hair of a woman in shampoo advertisement. "I have to go," she whispered between her breaths. "I don't want that we do something that both of us will regret,"

"I won't, I promise,"

She smiled. "You're sweet," She opened the window. "There is no other way. I hate flying," she said. "Thank you for saving me from them," then puff, she changed into a bird and flew through the window. The t-shirt fell onto the ground.

James ran to the window, but the dark sky of the dawn did not help him much. Victoria had gone and he did not have a chance to say goodbye. He took the t-shirt and kissed it.

That day, for the first time in his life, burying himself under the t-shirt, being intoxicated by her scent and feeling miserable at the same time, James Stackhouse masturbated.

*****


	23. After the Funeral

Twenty-Two

**After the Funeral**

Sam Merlotte felt stupid.

An intruder had entered Northman Mansion ground tonight and he missed it. Something or somebody had lured him away from mansion and dumb as he was, he followed it. It was a fox, he was sure of it; and it could move like the wind. He heard about fast foxes, which were able to run like the wind, but normally they lived around Texas and New Mexico. What was it doing here?

When he found a set of clothes in the woods, he realized, it was not a normal fox. It was either a were or a shifter and it was definitely a woman. The perfume and the size of the clothes gave her away.

The sound of howling stopped his search. The Hounders were mourning. He recognized their 'song' from the end of their howling. Usually it sounded long and smooth, but this time it was staccato and somehow sounded heart breaking. Who had died?

Sam always thought that the Grey Hounder was a peaceful pack. He never heard the pack involved in big fights or having feuds with other packs. Its members seemed to like avoiding any duel. Later on, he found out that they did it in purpose. Their numbers were not that big anymore that they could afford picking a fight and losing their members. It must have been not easy for them to keep their emotions under control because some other werewolves liked to mock them. The Hounders would simply ignore them except when their prides were challenged. The Grey Hounder had a custom to sing their loss. Of course, for normal ears it would sound like any other wolf's howling, but not for the weres or shifters with trained ears like himself. Every weres knew they'd better not interrupted their 'ceremony', otherwise the Hounders would get offended. An offended Hounder had a power of ten weres, if not even more. In their daily life the Hounders worked as cowboys who were used to use their physical power and as werewolves, they were one of what the werewolf community called, "The Great Ones". They were bigger and stronger than the rest of the werewolves. Avoiding any conflict with the Hounders was a better choice because the result would not be on anybody's favours, but the Hounders'.

The woods became full of sound. Many others answered the Hounders' howling. It seemed many weres living in the woods or around the woods. Sam rarely went into the woods. The Bon Temps Woods was not quite the same since the big fight fifteen years ago. He did not know why, but he always had a feeling that somebody was watching him every time he was inside the woods and it freaked him out. He avoided the woods if he could. The problem was, the only chance he could meet other shifters were in the woods when they were changing into their favourite shapes under the full moon.

Sam took a deep breath. If only shifters had lived in packs like werewolves, life would have been much easier. He could have a partner, who understood or maybe even shared his way of life.

Sookie would understand. If there were a woman, who could understand him, then it would be Sookie. She had not shown any shock or mockery when she found out what he really was. He knew it was only a dream to have her as his woman. Sookie loved that bastard. She even had a son with him. He still could not believe that Sookie and that bastard had a son together! A son, with a vampire! But when he looked at her son more closely, with bitter feeling he acknowledged it, James could be Northman's son.

Before James Stackhouse wore that hideous black hair, he had blond hair. First, he thought it was normal since Sookie herself had also blond hair. However, James' hair was brighter almost like pumpkin. For days, he tried to remember where he had seen that colour before, but he was not able to put them together, until he saw that bastard Northman again. How amazing – if not disturbing to see how two persons could look alike and yet at the same time could be so different. Northman was cold and distant to anybody, except Sookie. The rare occasion, in which Northman showed his emotions or signs that he had some emotions left, was when he was with Sookie. Sam did not talk about lust or about anger, but feelings like worried or cared. James, on the other hand, was easy to laugh, genuinely cared about others and like Sookie, had a warm heart. He was not angry when he found out what Alcide had done to him. He even accepted Alcide's claim and willing to help Alcide without any second thought. When Colin came and invited him to be a member of his dying clan, he accepted it too. "For uncle Jason," that's what he said.

James was definitely Sookie's son, but Northman's? Sam was not sure about it.

When he returned to the mansion, the main house was already dark. Sookie was already sleeping, he believed. Northman was at Fangtasia, Cooper said. He had a guest and they wanted to talk some business.

"I am sorry for your loss," Sam said. "I wish I could be here,"

"Thank you, Merlotte. Tom Rodney was a great teacher among the Hounders, it was indeed a great loss to lose such a man,"

"There was an intruder," Sam said, excusing himself. "I had to follow her,"

"So you knew it was a woman," Doc said.

"Yes, I found her clothes in the woods. Where is she now?"

"She is with Little Brother," Cooper said. Then he laughed, mockingly. "Little Brother will have a huge surprise tomorrow,"

The other werewolves laughed too.

_Little Brother_, _the werewolves call James Little Brother. They accepted him without hesitation. Either they are desperate or James has something that I don't know. _Thought Sam.

Colin patted his shoulder. "Let Little Brother have some fun, it's about the time that he becomes a man, don't you think so, Merlotte?"

"He is a human, don't forget that," Sam said. Sookie would not like the idea that her son lost his virginity that early, especially not to a were or a shifter. "He is still a child in his mother's eyes,"

"A child is always a child in his mother's eyes. Ask my mother," said Doc, grinning.

"Don't worry too much, Old Dog," Cooper patted his shoulder. "He can take care of himself,"

Somehow, yeah, but still, Sam would prefer to have that fox taken out of James' room. He hoped Sookie would not get suspicious tomorrow, if anything happened tonight. "Who was the quest?" he decided to change the subject.

"A vampire named André Paul," Colin said. He gave him a short summary of what he had heard. "Somebody has to go to Baton Rouge," he said. "I'd prefer if you and the twins go,"

What Colin meant with the twins were the Cotton brothers – Al and Chad, Colin's youngest Lieutenants. They were sitting beside each other, listening to the conversation without saying any word. They did not look like twins because they had different features. Al had blond hair; and Chad had dark brown hair. They were at the same heights, had the same built and people could see that they were brothers, but not twins.

"Al has a photographic memory," Colin said. "He will remember anything he saw. Chad has a very good orientation of time and places; and he has the best nose in the pack. You will need them. Besides, they are very quiet, you will not even notice that they are with you."

"I'll go," Sam said. "After the funeral,"

"Funeral?"

"Simon Black of the Long Teeth died three days ago and tomorrow is his funeral,"

"Then, we all shall go and pay Little Brother's father a respect,"

"I'd appreciate that," Sam said. "Alcide would appreciate that, too,"

Standing beside Alcide and James made Sookie feel uncomfortable. The people who attended the funeral looked at her as if they were looking at Alcide's wife or girlfriend; and they shook her hand like they were shaking the hand of the leader's wife.

She did not feel comfortable of lying.

James seemed to take his role more easily. He greeted everybody, accepted the condolences that were spoken and even served the guests with beverage and food as if he was in his own house.

"Thank you for coming, Sookie," said Alcide.

"Hey," she touched his arm. "Simon was also my friend,"

Alcide smiled. "Nevertheless, thank you,"

The funeral was quick. Simon's body, which was inside a metal case, was buried in the family funeral ground. They did not show his body to the guest because as Alcide told her, there was no remain left. His body turned into somewhat liquid as soon as he had contact with the sunlight. They had put the liquid inside a container and put the container inside the coffin. It would be better for everybody not to see it.

The priest read some lines from the Bible and then they covered his coffin with the soil.

Janine looked sad, but relieved. Possibly knowing what happened to her husband was much better for her than being worried most of the time. "He is free now," she said to Sookie. "He is on The Great Plain with the others; I have nothing to worry any more,"

Sookie hugged her tightly. "We promised him to take care of you," she said. "You don't need to worry about anything, Janine,"

"Thank you, Sookie. You're most kind,"

Simon must have been a good man when he had been still alive. Many people came to give their condolences. Some of them came in groups and some came individually. Most of them were werewolves, Alcide said, from different areas around Bon Temps. Simon himself had come from Nevada. He was a member of Mojave Black Wolves, one of the oldest packs in States that Alcide knew. Sookie was introduced to three members of Black Wolves who came to pay their respect to Simon. Like Simon, they were heavily built and stern.

"We would like to bury Simon in Nevada," one of them said. "But Alcide said that it was not possible anymore,"

Alcide was right.

"Help us find out who did it, Sookie," they said. "Mojave Black Wolves would be at your service,"

That was a big word, which would need a great deed and Sookie did not feel quite like it.

Andy Bellefleur was there accompanied by his 'assistant', Det. Luna. After giving his condolences, he asked Sookie to follow him. He had some information for her, he said. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Det. Luna shaking Alcide's hand and then James'.

"I am sorry," she heard Det. Luna saying to James.

"Thank you," said James. "Are you coming because of the shooting, or...?"

"Because of the shooting," Det. Luna cut James. "I am on duty now,"

"I want to hear," James said. "I was there too,"

Sookie thought James was too bold these days. She did not like Det. Luna because in her eyes, she was a cold arrogant bitch; however, as a police officer she was straight and she liked that. James would have no chance to hear their conversation.

But she was wrong. Det. Luna nodded and let James follow them.

They were now sitting in Alcide's office, a small room with a set of table and chairs. Some folders were on the wall. The office looked too clean for Sookie. There was no flower, no picture, not even a calendar. The dark brown table was decorated with a telephone, a box of pencil and a staple of paper. This office needed a woman's touch, _pronto._

"Do you know a man named Bob Smith, Alcide?" Andy asked.

"Bob Smith... I think I have somebody who works for me named Bob Smith. Why?"

"Well, his family reported him missing for three days ago," said Andy. "I don't tell anybody yet, but the hand print that Sookie gave me belonged to Bob Smith. Also the blood that Sookie used for making the hand print, it was Smith's blood,"

"I did not make that hand print," Sookie said. "Neither did Eric, if you want to accuse him," Well, he did not make the hand print; he sucked him almost dry. "My son and I was there," Sookie looked at James, who was standing beside Det. Luna.

"Somebody must have," Andy said. "I want to talk to him,"

Should she say it was Chow? If she did, it was the same with telling Andy that Eric had done it.

"You know that he and the others wanted to kill Sookie and James, don't you?" asked Alcide.

"Yes,"

"Whatever happened that night it could be considered as self-defence,"

Andy was hesitating to give an answer. "I have to find the evidence first to get any conclusion,"

"I can take you there," suddenly James said. His eyes were bright of hope. Sookie looked at him suspiciously. What was going on with him? "I can show you where the place was,"

"I don't know, son..." said Andy. "Bon Temps Woods is not exactly a playground,"

"Detective Luna can accompany me," he said, looking straight into Det. Luna's eyes.

_Shit, _Det. Luna thought. _That's not a fucking good idea. _She turned her face away.

This time, Sookie agreed with her. Not a fucking good idea at all. Her mind was too full with the thoughts of how to stop James going into the woods that she did not realize that Det. Luna looked uncomfortable and James was grinning widely.

"What about the gun, Sheriff?" Sookie asked. "Any information about it?"

Andy shook his head. "No fingerprints and no registration number on the gun, they had wiped it out. Jason is working on it,"

"Where is he now?" Sookie asked.

"He said he had to go to Baton Rouge. He has some friends there who can help him,"

Everything seemed to return to Baton Rouge.

"Do you have anybody you suspect that they might have some grudges against you, Alcide?" asked Andy. "Because if what Sookie said was true...which it is, I believed you were the target and not Sookie and her boy,"

The word 'her boy' did not seem right to James' ears. He looked at Andy, insulted.

"I have some, yes. But I want to look for the information my way,"

"Please, Mr. Herveaux," Det. Luna said. "It would be better for all of us if you could give us the names, and let us follow the lead,"

"Yes, I could do that," Alcide said. "But first thing, first," he said. "We are still mourning now, give us some time to work things out our way, then I will come down to your office, Detective,"

Det. Luna nodded. "Thank you,"

After almost all guests were gone, the ones who stayed behind were sitting in the room, which Sookie knew as conference room. All-important matters were discussed here, including the one, which she remembered the most, on which Simon and Alcide had saved her life from Carter's attack.

Jackson was not there. He had left every decision to Alcide.

There were Alcide, Sookie herself, Colin, Cooper, Sam and James. Andy and Det. Luna stayed too. Maybe it was only Sookie's feeling, but Sam did not let his eyes go off Det. Luna. She was not surprised, Det. Luna was a beautiful young woman, but why did he look as if Det. Luna was some kinds of a threat?

"Sookie," Colin said. "I will ask my men to go to Baton Rouge today. Perhaps I will need Merlotte's assistant. I will also need some of your men, Alcide, to stay at Sookie's mansion for the replacement,"

"I will return tomorrow," Alcide said. "But some of my men can go there today,"

It sounded like a war preparation and Sookie did not like it.

"Listen, Gentlemen," Andy said. "I know that you are Sookie's friends and you mean well to her, but I don't like the way you talk about it. It makes me feel as a law enforcement officer not well informed. To be honest with you, I don't know anything what you're talking about. I don't even know who these gentlemen are, who now are staying at Sookie's place. I am not trying to act like a member of secret service or something, but it makes me feel better if at least I know your names,"

"Well, Officer," Cooper touched his hat. "I am Matt Cooper and this is Colin Purefoy. We are from Running Creek, Beaumont. We are friends from the Herveaux and for the moment we are working for Miss Stackhouse,"

"You don't say," Andy said. "Running Creek...are you guys from Running Creek Ranch?"

"That happens to be Colin's ranch, but yes, Sheriff."

"I always want to go to Running Creek. You guys deliver the best meat I've ever tasted!" Then, Andy, Alcide and Cooper were busy talking about cows and steaks, much to Det. Luna's annoyance. Colin was sitting there, listening.

Sam gave her a sign to come to him.

"What?" asked Sookie.

"I will be in Baton Rouge for some days," he said.

"I know,"

"Here is my mobile phone number. Call me if you see or hear anything that makes you suspicious,"

"Sam...you scare me. What's going on?"

Sam looked at her into the eyes and said in his head. _Don't let James go alone into the woods. It is too dangerous for him._

"I know," said Sookie. But how to stop him?

_One of the Hounders has to be with him, all the time. They would know what to do._

Sookie sighed. That was not what she had in mind. She looked at James. He was talking to Det. Luna, who listened to him closely. Too close for Sookie's taste. Her head was hanging down almost touching his shoulders. Det. Luna was around 5'7"; she could stand straight and she would reach James' ears, but now with head hanging like that, James looked much taller and she looked as if she wanted to be in his arms right away.

Sookie pushed away the thoughts. They must have been talking something important; otherwise, they would not speak in low voice like that.

Suddenly James turned around and looked at her. In his head, he was screaming. MOM! YOU ARE LISTENING AGAIN!

Sookie was taken aback. She was not!

Det. Luna turned around, and to Sookie's surprised, she looked like a girl who was caught of stealing something. Her face was reddish and she looked very uncomfortable. _Oh, fuck! _She said in her head. "Sheriff," she said, despite all the curses she had in her head, her voice was calm. "If we have nothing else...we'd better go,"

"Oh yeah, sure!" Andy got up. "I've got to come and visit your ranch, Mr. Cooper,"

"Cooper would be just fine, Sheriff," said Cooper, touching his hat.

After shaking hands, Andy followed Det. Luna leaving the room.

Colin got up slowly, and patted James on the shoulder. He smiled slyly. "It looks like you don't really let the fox go, Little Brother. It must have been a hell of a night, last night,"

"What fox?" asked Alcide, ignoring James, whose face was red like a boiled crayfish.

"Oh, there was a fox entering the ground last night," Cooper grinned. "Don't worry, Alcide. Your son has taken care of her, just fine."

Then both of them sneered.

Did she miss something here? Did Cooper just say 'her'? How did he know that it had been a she?

"You can't trust foxes," Alcide said, staring at James with a grin on his face.

"Don't be ashamed, Little Brother," Colin put his arm around James, "At least it was not a Hyena,"

Colin and Cooper laughed, whilst James was getting redder and redder. Sookie was afraid in any minute that head was going to blow.

"Don't worry, Sookie." Alcide flashed his brilliant smile. "Colin and Cooper were joking,"

Sookie looked at Sam, who quickly shrugged. "I wasn't there. I don't know what they were talking about,"

They all lied. Sookie sighed. They were protecting James...from what?

When Sookie finally found James, he was sitting on the stairs with a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. He ate the vanilla cookies like a starving child, who did not get any food for days. Sookie sat beside him, and touched his hair. He ate fast like that only when he was nervous or feeling miserable. It was not good for him, she always told him. Food should not be treated as a comforting tool, like blankets or thumbs for little children. But this time, she did not say anything. James already looked miserable enough without hearing her comment. When Sookie looked into his eyes, she realized what was going on inside his head.

Her son was in love.

A call, late in the afternoon from Grace, gave Sookie a hope. Grace had found the building, or what she thought it might be the building. She was not sure where the site of the building but at least now they knew that the building existed.

She would return to Bon Temps tomorrow. They decided to see each other tomorrow evening.

Eric was not in his vault. He must have been sleeping at Pam's or at Fangtasia. It was around nine o'clock when he arrived and he was still in the same clothes from yesterday. They had gone to Baton Rouge to look for the rest of the Queen's True Blood. They had found some and sent them to Haru straight away.

"Haru Kimura and his teams were the ones who created True Blood," Eric said. "I was one of his lab-rats. I and some other vampires,"

"Godric too?"

"Godric never drinks True Blood," Eric said. "He doesn't drink so much anymore. He can even stand for days without any drink," he smirked. "Maybe I will do the same, one day,"

After Eric had changed his clothes and taken a short shower, Sookie told him about Simon's funeral. She also told him about what she thought.

"I told you, Sookie. He is not a child anymore," Eric said. "Let him get to know his women,"

Women? Did he say 'women'?

"You are worried too much, Lover."

"James isn't even fifteen...Do you think he ...already..." Sookie tried to find the right word, but Eric did not help her at all. He lifted his eyebrow and waited for her to continue her words. She took a deep breath. "...slept with a girl?"

"I cannot say. Do you think if he already had a woman, he would tell me?"

_I hope so, _Sookie said in her head. "What about you? Did you tell your father?"

"My father gave his best conquer to me as a present. He thought it was about the time for me to enter the men's world and get to know women. She was a very beautiful young Roman and I was thirteen..."

She was definitely asking the wrong question to the wrong person.

Sookie threw herself onto the bed. Ah, James. She hoped her son did not grow faster than he already did. She hoped he would stay a child, play with children's toys and did not know adult world too soon. Maybe two or three years later or even much much later...and who was the girl he was in love with? Somebody from Alcide's family?

A werewolf? Was James in love with a werewolf?

Something hit her head. The fox. It had to do something with the fox.

Colin and Cooper had teased James about last night; and last night James had slept with the fox...no he had not slept with the fox, but he had taken the fox to his room and then in the morning the fox had gone. James said, he had set the fox free. "You were right, Mom," he said. "The fox was too wild and dangerous,"

What did he mean?

Did he and the fox...werefox...it was a werefox...did they...?

Sookie got up. She had to go to James' room and asked him about it, but before she managed to get off the bed, Eric pulled her back to the bed.

"Stay," he kissed her neck. "Forget your son..."

"Eric..."

"Don't ask him anything..." he started opening her blouse. "Let him come to you and tell you what he did..."

"If he doesn't?"

"Then you have to accept that he doesn't tell you everything..." his fangs were touching the old wound. Instead of biting it, he licked the wound, sent shiver straight to her bones. His tongue was rough and cold. "The older he gets, the more secrets he would have. You could only expect that he would be always honest with you, but you could not expect him to tell all his secrets,"

"For a vampire you have good parenting advices," Sookie touched his blond hair.

"I visited parenting courses for some times," Eric said.

"Why was that?"

"One of the women that Aude had chosen for me was a social worker and she gave a lot of courses,"

Sookie did not know if she should be happy or angry to hear that. One of the women that Aude had chosen...she started wondering how many...but she could not think any more as Eric started touching her. As always, his touches were so intoxicating and demanding that she was not able to do anything else but to answer them with the same enthusiasm.

Soon they were lying beside each other, satisfied and naked. Eric's hand ran on her back, touching every part of her spines. Then, slowly that hand went to the front.

Sookie watched how Eric's eyes were flickering every time they were landing on some spots that aroused him. She loved seeing the shape of his half-open mouth, letting her see his fangs – not completely, but enough to tell her that he was ready to make love again any time she wanted it.

"Will you tell James about safe sex?" It was of course not something that Sookie hoped would happen any time soon, but she should not be too careless in this question. She could forbid James to do it, nevertheless it would happen sooner or later whether she wanted it or not. It would be better if James knew what he should or should not do before he slept with a girl. Sookie did not want to have any surprises, like teen pregnancy or sexual transmitted diseases.

"If you want to," said Eric.

"I think it would be better if you are the one who tells him, you know, man to man,"

"What happened if I was not here?"

"I'll ask Lafayette or Jason to do it," Sookie said. "If he asks me, I will explain to him too, but I am not sure if he will do that,"

"Good to hear, I thought you would let a stranger teach my son how to handle his women,"

"Eric, he is just fourteen, and I do hope he would not be like you who have a woman at every corner,"

Eric smirked. "I have women, true, but not at every corner,"

Sookie chuckled. No, then his name would have been Jason Stackhouse. "What do you mean with a stranger?"

"Don't tell me that you had no man when I was not around,"

Eric still wanted to know if she had a man when he had not been around or not. Sookie was the one who smirked now. "Hmh..." she sighed with a smile on her face. When she saw how much Eric wanted to know – his face became hard and his eyes were narrowing, she decided to have an open card. "I had some, but they never stayed long,"

"Because...?"

Sookie looked into those piercing blue eyes. Instead of coldness, she found curiosity and eagerness. Like James' eyes every Christmas morning. He could not wait to open the presents to see if Father Christmas 'had listened' to his wish and gave the very present he wanted to have or not.

Sookie touched the lines beside the nose. They were not as deep as hers were, but the traces of his humanity long time ago were there. "Of you," she said, smiling. "Somehow, without realizing it, I wanted them to be you,"

His cold hand was on her neck, caressing it softly with his fingernail, and then the next thing Sookie knew was he was on top of her, kissing her passionately. As he lifted his face, his eyes were full of lust and his fangs were bared to see. Sookie offered him her throat. She closed her eyes waiting for those fangs to open her flesh and make her blood flow into his mouth.

But it never happened. Instead, she heard him whispering. "You are mine, Stackhouse,"

xxxxxx

Early in the morning, Sookie found James in the kitchen drinking warm milk. He told her, Cooper and Doc were going to take him to the woods today. Perhaps, Det. Luna would join them too, but he was not sure about it. He was still waiting for her call.

"She comes with you?"

"Yeah," James said. "Sheriff Bellefleur said it would be better if she came with us. I like the idea, too," James smiled. "If Doc and Cooper change into werewolves, at least I won't be alone,"

"Where are you going?"

"Papa said we should go to the house of Francesco Allevi. Who was he, Mom? Papa always sounds so sad when he mentions his name,"

Maybe it was about the time for her and for James to visit the graves of Francesco and Aude. She had been avoiding those graves for all those years. Maybe it was about the time for her to make peace with her past.

The graves were some yards away from the house. They were close to the river, on the place where Aude and Eric had become lovers for the first time. Sookie chose that place because she believed it would have been Aude's choice too.

Their graves were decorated with angel statues made of white marble, two doves and ivy leaves – also made of marble for Aude's graves and lily flowers for Francesco.

"Francesco was your father's best friend," Sookie said.

"He looked a lot like me, Papa said,"

"Yes, your hair and your eyes remind us a lot of him," Sookie looked at James, his blond hair root started to show.

"And this grave?"

"It is Aude's. Aude Northman, your father's wife,"

James touched the doves. "Hi, Aude."

"You know that I named you after her favourite writer?"

James shook his head.

"You should read his books. Aude had the whole collection of Henry James' books,"

"And my middle name?"

"It was the way Francesco called your father," Sookie looked at Francesco's grave. The picture of Francesco holding Wilson flashed in front of her eyes. There had been a look of sadness, but also certainty in his eyes. "Frederico – that was the way he called your father. He had saved my and your father's lives, James. I think it's only fair when I used that name for you,"

"Why didn't you use Frank or Frances?"

"I thought about it, but since the people who loved your father used those names, I thought they would love that those names continue living,"

"...And Northman. I wish I could use that name too,"

Sookie also had the same wish, but both of them know, it was not possible, especially not now.

When they returned to the house, Doc was in the kitchen. He made himself a big jar of coffee.

"I thought both of you were still sleeping," he said.

"We were from the cemetery," James said. "You woke up early,"

"Larry woke me up," Doc said. "He barks like crazy in his sleep." he sipped his coffee. "Are we still going to day?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Northman said we should go as early as possible. The day changes quickly inside the woods. He also said, if you're willing, Miss Sookie, that you should accompany us. You can lead us the way,"

"I don't know," Sookie said. Going to that place again was like opening the old wound. She still could see the way Wilson sat on the lazy chair, listening to the music, the smell of the burning woods and that foul odour which had came from Francesco's wounds...it had taken days if not even weeks to get rid off that smell from her memory and now she had to go back again?

"It would be fun," Doc showed his teeth, his big pointed yellowish teeth. In his head he was asking, _what are you afraid of, Miss Sookie?_

What was she afraid of? She did not know, she just did not feel right to go there. She knew it was important to go, but she also knew it would not be that easy for her to enter the woods. She did not see any faery lately; nevertheless, she could imagine that they would not welcome her, not after what Godric and the others had done to the woods.

After the fights between the werewolves and Wilson's people, the Bon Temps woods had suffered from big destruction. Many trees were tumbled down and traces of fire were everywhere. Some wild animals such as deer, wolves (real wolves and not werewolves) and other smaller animals ran out of the woods and caused panic among the people of Bon Temps. The government of Louisiana had sent many police officers to investigate the cause of the destruction, but found no result. Some months later, some anonymous donated a huge amount of money to replant the woods. Sookie was one of them; she believed Pam and Godric had done the same.

Still, the faeries were the ones who suffered the most. Claudine told her that they had to move out from the forest and dwelt in the caves and around the river for a while. The sacred tree, fortunately, was untouched. Yet, they had been very angry to the werewolves and vampires. They considered to withdrawal permission to enter for both vampires and werewolves. Claudine never contacted her again after their last meeting fifteen years ago. Sookie wondered if how she was now.

Around nine o'clock, Det. Luna came. She wore the khaki shirt sheriff uniform and two guns dangling on her hips. Her chest was protected with a bulletproof vest. Where did she think she was going?

"You'll never know what you will deal with," she said to Sookie.

Doc and Cooper sneered. "Tough girl, eh?"

Det. Luna did not answer, but there was a smile in her eyes as if she wanted to say, _you know I am._

Sookie wrote a note to Eric to tell him where James and she were. She knew it was nonsense because Eric would know anyway due to his blood bond with her and James. Well, it was nothing wrong with being careful.

They use Sookie's and Det. Luna's car. Sookie was with Cooper, whilst James and Doc were with Det. Luna.

"I can be their guide, Mom." James said before he entered the car. "I know where Jardin Buffon is,"

"He is full of spirit," Cooper said. "Don't you think so, Ma'am?"

Sookie forced herself to smile. Too much spirit, if they asked her. She did not like it. Something was odd in James' behaviour and she could not really put her hand on it.

The journey to Jardin buffon was quite fast. Cooper did not say much, his eyes and ears were focused on the woods. He looked like a dog, which sensed danger. He sat straight, his eyes moved steadily to a certain point in the woods and if his ears had been standing up, they would have been right now.

"Something you saw, Cooper?" Sookie asked.

"No, but to tell you the truth, Miss Sookie, I don't like the woods. It is not like any other woods I've ever seen,"

Cooper was not the only one. Sookie did not like it either.

They parked the cars beside the woods and then they entered the woods on foot.

Sookie felt as if it had been yesterday when she entered the woods with Tara. Memories came to her like high water, which broke down the dam. Her chest was heavy and her eyes were hot, she would have not been able to continue walking if Cooper had not caught her arms and helped her.

"I am here, Miss Sookie," he said. "My order is to bring you and your son back without being harmed and I intend to keep it,"

"Thank you, Cooper."

In the middle between the main road and the path that led to the house on the meadow, Sookie felt the woods shifting. It seemed as if the woods had some kind walls made of lights and sounds, which moved from here to there. When she touched in some points, she felt like being absorbed by them and if she was not careful enough, she could be lost behind them.

They were entering the faery's realm.

"James, please stop." she said.

Everybody stopped.

"We have to be very careful now," Sookie said. "Whatever you do, try to avoid any damage. The people who live in the woods will not appreciate if you destroy their places,"

"Are there people living in the woods?" asked Det. Luna. _I've never seen them before. _She continued in her head.

Det. Luna had been here, Sookie thought, but she thought it would be better if she did not mention anything about it. "Yes, there are people living in this wood," said Sookie. "They are the faeries; they are some kinds of woods protectors. Believe me; you don't want to mess around with them,"

"I heard stories about the guardians of the woods," Cooper said, thoughtfully. "I thought they were only stories,"

"No, they are not. They don't show themselves to everybody, but they are here in this woods and let's just say, we are lucky if we don't see them today," Sookie sighed and she really prayed that they did not meet any of them today.

The deeper they went inside the woods; the air was getting thicker and thicker for them. Sookie could see the white smoke like air every time they breathed out. Cooper was walking closely behind her; James and Det. Luna were walking close to each other and Doc was behind them. Sometimes Sookie caught with the corner of her eyes, how closed James' hand was to Det. Luna's. She could swear that she saw his finger trying to touch hers...or was it perhaps the angle of her sight, which made it look like that.

"Do you think somebody is still living in that house?" asked James.

"I don't think so," Sookie said. The last owner of that house had died in front of her.

The sweet smell of sandalwoods reached Sookie's nose. They were getting closer. "James, don't be too far from me please," Sookie said. "We are getting nearer,"

"Somebody is coming," said Cooper. His body was suddenly covered with grey hair. "Doc...hold your ground..."

Sookie turned around to see James. He was standing in the middle between Doc and Det. Luna. Like Cooper, Doc's body was covered with grey hair, he even started snarling. Det. Luna had her guns ready in both of her hand.

"You enter our ground and how dare you to bring evil with you!" a loud sound was heard very close them, but nobody was there.

"Hello..." Sookie said. "My name is Sookie Stackhouse...I am..."

A strong wind blew at them. Cooper grabbed her hand right before she was thrown away. She turned around to look for James, to make sure that he was all right. But the wind seemed to divide them. James and the others were not able to move away from their ground, whilst she and Cooper were pulled away from the place.

"James!" Sookie screamed, trying to reach out her hand to James. "James!"

Sookie tried to break up from Cooper's arm and run to James, but it was useless. The wind was too strong for her to stand on her own. "James!" with all her power she called out her son's name. For one moment, her son could see her and his mouth yelled out "Mom", but afterwards, she did not see him anymore. Some walls made of lights and sounds covered them and then they were gone, leaving her and Cooper standing clueless. When she tried to walk through that wall, an unseen power pushed her back and threw her onto the ground. The last thing she could hear was Cooper calling out her name.


	24. In The Woods

**Author's Note: I use some Indian Caddo words in this chapter, but The Grey Hound Clan is not intended to portray any tribe in the Caddo Nation and the Grey Hounders' rituals or habits ****existed only in my fantasy. **

Twenty-three

**In The Woods  
**

A big grey haired hand helped Sookie standing. Her back was painful, her knees were bleeding and her head was pondering, following the rhythm of her heart. Bum-bum, bum-bum.

Jesus...what had she done? She had brought her son to the very place that they should have avoided. For what?

_What is she? Her blood smells so strong...Ayanat Caddi be my guide, strengthen me not to harm this woman._

Sookie forced herself to be on her foot. "I am fine, Cooper. Thanks," she took her hand off Cooper. The blood from her knees now went through her jeans, created a big stain on each knee. Whomever Cooper was praying to, she hoped He answered him here and now, otherwise she was not sure if she could stop Cooper from harming her.

"You wait here, Miss Sookie," he said as soon as Sookie was able to stand on her own.

"Where are you going?"

"Somewhere to in the bush," then, he walked away. Some paces away, and then he stopped. He stood with his back facing her.

"What are you doing?"

"Don't watch, Miss Sookie. You would not like it,"

Sookie turned her face away as soon as she realized what Cooper was about to do. He opened his zipper and put down his pants. He was urinating.

"What are you doing that for?"

"So that Doc knows where we are. He can find my traces,"

"You are like a dog!" Sookie covered her mouth with her hand. "Sorry..."

"No worry, Miss Sookie. Dogs are like us. They are our descendants," Cooper touched her shoulder. His hands were still covered with grey hair and long black fingernails. "Do you have any idea what is going on, Miss Sookie?"

"Honestly, no," Sookie said. "I have no problems with faeries before,"

"So you knew those people,"

"Yes, I do,"

She did not only knew, but one of them was her grandfather. Somewhere inside the woods lived her distant relative and she did not know any of them, except her great grandfather, Niall Brigant.

"Doc is a good tracker," Cooper said, "He will find us,"

She knew another good tracker, but he was sleeping for the moment. Bill Compton, the best tracker that Bon Temps ever had, at least that was what the history books wrote.

"I am ready when you are Miss Sookie," Cooper said as if he wanted to tell her to concentrate. "Just tell me where to go; I will take us there,"

"Moment..." Sookie closed her eyes. She had to be able to concentrate. She must. Her son was somewhere in the woods, surrounded by faeries who obviously were not in their good moods. She must find a way to get to him.

That house was on a meadow, surrounded by the woods. Lafayatte had told her that he and the others had to walk through the swamp to get to the back of the house...and sandalwood. She had smelt the sandalwood before, as she had been in the tunnel. Could it be enough as the guiding direction? Perhaps. She had nothing to lose now.

"You have a fine nose, Cooper. You can lead us to the part where the sandalwood grew. The house is not that far from that part or the swamp. Anything that reminds you to the swamp will lead us straight to the house,"

Cooper nodded. "I'll do my best, Miss Sookie. Don't worry, we will get there," His yellowish eyes flickered. From his head, Sookie heard some kind of mantra in a language she never heard before. She caught words like "Caddi" and "Ayanat", but the rest sounded gibberish.

She followed Cooper without saying any word. That big man sniffed the air and then walked firmly to the south. Honestly, Sookie was scared. Cooper was in his werewolf form, not complete but still, he was not exactly a man. The grey hair covered his hands, arms and neck. His face was clean, but his eyes were yellowish. She had caught what he was thinking about her blood and she was not sure if Cooper could control himself. What happened if suddenly he turned around and attacked her? She was certainly not able to defend herself. Cooper was almost twice bigger than her; and with his werewolf strength he would be able to break her neck easily.

"Come, Miss Sookie," Cooper said. "We have a long way to go,"

Reluctantly Sookie followed him. Where were they going? Cooper was a stranger to the woods and she had been too long away from Bon Temps. As far as she remembered, the trees had been thicker and bigger than this one. Possibly, they were the new ones from the reforestation project. Nevertheless, the trees were high and they blocked the sun from touching the forest ground, made the air wet and heavy.

After some distances, which Sookie thought like a long way to the South, Cooper stopped and to her objection, urinated again. How many gallons did this man have inside his bladder? It could not be that he urinated all over the forest!

Suddenly Sookie saw the walls again. She ran to Cooper. "Cooper...I think I saw something,"

"I know," Cooper said. "I can feel it," he turned around. "Stay close to me, Miss Sookie. These people are serious,"

Sookie grabbed his hand. Her skin crawled. She did not know whether it was because of Cooper's rough grey hair or because of the walls, which colours were getting stronger and somehow looked solid.

_Sookie...leave this place..._

A familiar voice reached her ears. Claudine. Claudine was trying to reach her.

"How?" she asked. "How can I leave?"

_Follow the walls..._

"Don't listen to it, Miss Sookie," Cooper said. "The guardians of the woods are playing trick on our mind. You may not listen to them,"

"I know some of them, Cooper," Sookie said. "I trust her,"

"If you leave the woods, it means you leave Little Brother alone. I will not accompany you out of the woods, Miss Sookie. I have to protect the members of my pack, and Little Brother is one of them,"

Dear God...how could she forget that?

Sookie fell to the ground. How could James slip out of her mind? What kind of a mother she was?

Cooper sat beside her and took her hand. As if he understood what she was thinking about, he said, "Miss Sookie, Bon Temps Woods is an old place. The people who live here have seen yellow leaves fall from the trees for thousand times. We would not win against them, if we listened to them. We have to trust our own instincts and our senses. You are different from any woman I've ever known, Miss Sookie. I can't tell you how, I just know. You told me you know some of them; you must have something that the others don't have because those people are proud people. They would not show themselves to any other races, unless the other races are special to them. You must have their blood or you have something that they want,"

Sookie looked at the face, which was roughened by the weather and fights in front of her. Among the scars, the traces of age and dirt, wisdom shone through. She touched that face. Its yellowish eyes flickered, but soon they changed into fond lights.

"Who are you, Matt Cooper? You are not like any werewolf I've ever known,"

"I am Matt Cooper, the first lieutenant of the Grey Hound Clan," he smiled. "Keeper of the Niish' secrets,"

"Niish?"

"The Moon," his face was thoughtful. "The one we love; and yet we despise it so much,"

"What is that for a language, Niish?"

"Indian Caddo," he said. "Our elders told us that our forefather was taught by the Akokisan, the great people who once lived beside the Trinity bay."

"But you are not an Indian, are you?"

"No, Ma'am. We are the Hounders learn and teach our children to live according to our forefather's teachings. We learn to speak French as well as Caddo. The elders said our forefather was a French man. His own family abandoned him because he was a werewolf. His mother was a werewolf and so was her mother before her. She did not tell her husband who she really was because being a werewolf at that time was the same as being a witch. As she married to an officer and went to the new world, she hoped that the future of her children would be different. Unfortunately, she had died when our forefather was not yet a man. As his father found out who he really was, he ordered his own company to kill him. He managed to escape and went into the wilderness when the Akokisan found him. He lived among them and learnt their way of life and so did his children after him.

There is much great knowledge that was gone along with the people who had it. Akokisa was one of the great peoples who graced this part of the world. We are fortunate to have a little bit of their knowledge,"

"Then you should tell her that your great ancestor ate the flesh of their enemies; as I believe, you the Grey Hound beasts practise the same thing; and let her judge the greatness of your ancestor,"

A sudden voice made Sookie jumped.

Cooper was already on his foot. His arms were spread and long black fingernails slowly emerging from his fingers. The grey hair grew thicker.

In front of them was a man. He had long pale blond hair and dressed in green. He looked like in his twenties, but something told Sookie he was much older than that. His blue eyes were dark and deep, as if inside those eyes hid knowledge and experiences that a man in his twenties may have not had them. His ears were pointed and Sookie noticed that he was barefoot. He was a faery.

"You eat people?!" asked Sookie. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing. She had let cannibals go inside her house!

"The Akokisan did, but we don't,"

The faery sneered. "Really, since when?"

"If you know about our ancestor so well, then you must know about us, too."

"None of you filthy beasts escape from our eyes," he said. For a moment, Sookie thought that the sentence was directed to Cooper, but then she realized that his eyes were on her. "But I'll let you answer it,"

"Well," Sookie tried to use her most cheerful voice she could master. She must not let the faery know her real feeling; if she had a choice to choose between an unfriendly faery and a cannibalistic werewolf, she would choose the unfriendly faery. "My boyfriend is a vampire and he sucks people dry, so, what shall?"

Both of them stared at her.

"You are Northman's woman?"

"Yes, I am," Sookie raised her head and hoped that they did not notice how she was trembled from fear. How she wished, Eric was there!

Thousands needles seemed to fly away from those dark blue eyes. The unfriendly faery was not only angry but he was also disgusted. "I never thought that you would sink that low, Faery's flesh!"

Faery's flesh?! Did he just call her Faery's flesh?!

The fear was disappeared into thin air. Her heart was now filled with anger. Nobody ever looked at her in such a disgraceful way like that. Many people had thought that she was an airhead because many times she pretended that she did not understand what the people said. But looking at her as if she was a piece of shit? Never!

"Listen you, Pointed Ears! I don't know you and you don't know me. As much as I want to respect the people who live in these woods I will not allow you to insult me."

"You have entered our grounds without our permission and brought that evilness with you!!" The faery's face was getting red and his voice was getting louder. "If that was not the reason to kill you, I don't know what else!"

"Now, Mister!" Sookie put her hands on her hip. "First of all, you and your people do not have a fixed address or phone so that I can call or send you a letter of notice that we are coming. Second, this is the ground of The Government of United States of America. You have no rights at all in front of the law and as long as we don't make any damages here we are free to enter this ground!"

"Your human government means nothing to us!!" His voice was loud and from his mouth came out strong wind that blew her hair.

Sookie wanted to say that the faeries kingdom also meant nothing to her, but she changed her mind. The faery was angry, it would be better for Cooper and her if she did not provoke him further.

But how to pass this faery? She did not have Claudine's medallion with her; she could not call her name and ask for help. If Cooper and the faery were involved in a fight, she was not sure if she could continue the journey alone or leave the woods today. If not, Eric would look for them, or she hoped so. What would Eric do if he found out what happened to her or James?

No, she could not allow that to happen. If Eric entered the woods, the faeries would not just stand still like what they were doing now. Perhaps, they would attack him. If he was attacked, Godric would come down from Dallas to take a revenge on the attack and she believed Godric would not be easy on the faeries. Her other part of family – James' other part of family, lived here. Godric was also a part of James' family. Sookie did not want that James had to choose between the faeries and his father's side. No, she did not want to put James on that situation.

Niall could help. Niall Brigant was her great grandfather whom Claudine addressed with "The Prince". If he was a Prince then he must have had authority in these woods. Yes, he could help. But how to ask his help? Should she call out his name? No, Claudine said he had already enough problems; she may not make it too obvious that she knew him.

The song. Yes, the song that once she had sung for Eric and Godric recognized it as Niall's song. What was the lyric...hmh....Sookie thought very hard.

"You'd better leave now before I lose my patience," said the faery.

The song...how did it go...hmh...something with bell...yes...slowly the lyric came back to her and when she was certain, she sang it, much to Cooper's surprise:

Hark, a solemn bell is ringing,

Clear through the night;

You, my love, are heav'nward winging,

Home through the night.

Earthly dust from off thee shaken,

By good angels art though taken;

Soul immortal shalt though waken,

Home through the night.

The unfriendly faery took out the stick that he kept under his belt and stood ready to attack. "That is the sacred song of the royal blood, how dare you to speak it with your dirty blood,"

Cooper spread himself between her and the faery. He was half kneeling, one hand on the ground and the other on his hips. Slowly, but surely his body was covered by grey hair. His bones made cracking noises as he was transforming. "She is the mother of my brother," his voice was deep and growling. "Your insult should be paid with the shed of your blood,"

Sookie felt the earth stop turning as Cooper changed into a huge grey wolf right in front of her eyes. When he jumped right at the faery, her knees were shaking and she fell. She could not do anything else, but watch both of them fighting. The faery moved swiftly, she almost could not catch his glimpse, but the sound of his stick hitting Cooper or the sound of Cooper's growling. Cooper himself was half sitting on his back feet most of the time, snarling, growling and baring his teeth. The hit that he received made his growling louder, but it did not seem to affect him at all. Suddenly he jumped; and Sookie heard a scream of agony. The next thing she saw was the faery on the ground and Cooper's mouth was aiming at his neck.

"Enough!"

A very loud voice echoed in the woods. Like being pushed by an unseen power, Cooper was thrown off the faery's body and hit a tree. He fell on the ground, but soon he was on his feet again. The faery tried to get off the ground. After a while, he was able to stand on his feet, shaking. Blood was dropping from his arm.

Some paces away from the faery was Niall. Two look alike faery stood on each of his side. Claudine and another faery Sookie had never seen before. She must be her twin...triplet, since Claudine had a twin brother.

Niall spoke in a language Sookie did not understand. The faery bowed. "Forgive my manner, Human," he said to Sookie. "I did as I am told,"

Sookie felt numb. All her muscles seemed to have left her body. She could not move, she could not speak. Her eyes were at the faeries, wide open, without being able to get the pictures inside her head.

"Keeper of Niish's secrets, I salute you," the faery nodded at Cooper. "Until the day we meet again," he bowed to Niall, and then he left. His movement was too fast for Sookie's eyes to follow. Soon, he was disappeared among the trees.

Niall moved his hand. Right before her eyes, Cooper was transforming back into his human form.

"My, my," Sookie heard Claudine whispering. She followed Claudine's eyes, and she felt her face hot. Claudine was glaring at Cooper's naked body. Tanned and muscled from his heavy daily work as a rancher, Cooper's figure looked marvellous. Not a single fat was seen on that body, all were muscles. The beatings that he received gave his body a stronger tone of masculinity.

"Give him something to cover his body, Claudette," Niall said.

The other faery walked forward and gave Cooper her green robe. Cooper took it and wrapped around his hips.

"Sookie, my child," Niall's hands were reaching out to her and when they touched her shoulder, she felt her blood rushing to her head, and like an old leaf she fell to the ground. "My child..." Niall touched her forehead. "What has brought you to come here? You know how dangerous it is to come here, haven't Claudine given you the message?"

Tears ran down on her cheek. Niall's touch was soft and warm. She felt...safe. Just like when she was in Eric's arm. Nothing mattered and harm seemed so far away.

Niall helped her to sit down. He smiled. "You are older, now."

"Yes, I am, Niall." Sookie said after she could master herself.

"Na, na, Sookie," Claudine wiped out her tears. "Our meetings should not be filled with tears,"

Sookie hugged Claudine. The faery did not aged a day! "What is going on, Niall? Why can't we enter the woods like before?" she released her hug. "We want to pass the woods to the house on the meadow. We don't want to do any harm to the woods, you know that."

"Days have been changed since we met, Sookie," Niall helped her to stand up. "We are weary and in distrust. Those who can go through the walls that we set up are treated as enemies. Those walls have been penetrated by Godric once; it is not the same since then."

"My son is out there, Niall. He is just a child. He doesn't know anything about the grudge of your kind and you take him as an enemy?"

"My kind, Sookie?" Claudine looked at her. Sadness was in her eyes when she continued, "Are you setting yourself apart from us, my friend...my cousin?"

Sookie's jaw dropped. Cousin? Claudine and she were cousins? But she was not the only person who was abashed to hear that.

"Cousins? You two are cousins?" Cooper looked at Sookie and Claudine. He was thoughtful when he said, "Faery's blood...that is it,"

Sookie looked at him. "What, Cooper?"

"Little Brother carries faery blood in his veins. That explains why he has such a strong aura and impression on us,"

"I have to disappoint you, Keeper of Niish's secrets," Niall said. "It is not our blood that makes Young Stackhouse become what he is now. It's his father's old blood and the blood of the first táhshah that ever walked in these woods that made him what he is,"

Cooper's face was pale. "The first táhshah? You have the first táhshah here, in this wood?"

"What is a táhshah?"

"A wolf – in his tongue," Niall said. "You remember Sookie, when you and Claudine brought Godric's son here. He was intoxicated and barely alive. My knowledge in medicine was not good enough to get rid of the poison out of his body. My father, His Majesty the King, felt responsible for the tragedy that happened. Godric and his son were - and I hope, are friends of these woods. They had never created any destruction upon this very place until that sad day fifteen of human's years ago. He took the blood of his beloved majestic Wolf, and with that blood, he cured Godric's son.

As Godric's son made love to you under the tree..." Sookie felt her face very hot. Niall had seen them doing it. "...he was carrying that blood. He would have still had that blood if Marguerite's son had not dried him up,"

"Who is Godric's son?" Cooper looked at Niall. When Niall did not answer, he turned to Sookie. "I would like to offer him my honour and loyalty. I would serve him until the wind of The Great Plain call me,"

Sookie's lips trembled from mixed feelings. No, the secret that James and she carried had to remain secret. "I am sorry, Cooper. I can't tell you,"

"You will find out about it in time, Keeper of Niish' secrets," Niall said. He took Sookie's hand, saying. "You'd better leave now. You have met the soldier of the West Forest. They do not want you and your son here,"

"I can't, Niall. I have to go to the house on the meadow. My son is going there; I have to find him,"

Niall kissed her hand and slowly let her go, "I give you a day time. As soon as the sun sets on the west, you have to leave the forest. With or without your son," then, he smiled fondly. "He will find a way to you, Sookie. Do not weary. And with the traces that your friend here left behind, they will find you," After saying goodbye to Cooper, Niall walked away. His grand figure was slowly disappearing, covered by the soft colourful lights, which suddenly appeared out of thin air.

Claudine hugged her for the last time and then she took the hand of her sister and followed Niall.

Sookie watched them until the lights disappeared. Somehow, she had a feeling; they would see each other again.

"Majestic creatures, the faeries," Cooper said. "But still, I don't want to live together with them. The Elders said that we can't reason with them. They have changing hearts like women during their period,"

Sookie laughed. That was such a comparison!

Cooper picked up his clothes. "Pardon me, Miss Sookie, but they are; and sometimes I even believe women are always having their period, so you can imagine what I think about the faeries," He put his clothes on. "Lead the way, Miss Sookie. Only, not so fast this time, please. That son of a bitch is serious about defending his territory. I think I like him,"

Somewhere deep in the forest, a faery was standing gracefully on a small branch of a tree. On his ageless face a smile was drawn. "I like you too, Keeper of the Niish' secrets,"

But Sookie and Cooper could not hear what he said. His sound was low and soft and for them it was just like a soft breeze gracing the leaves, unnoticed.

*****

James held his head, which was pondering like crazy. He must have hit a tree or a stone as he landed after being thrown down by some kind of wind. A very strange wind that had separated him with Mom.

He had been walking close beside Victoria when it had happened. He had touched the part of her arm, which were not covered by the uniform, with his little finger. She looked at him and when he smiled at her, she looked at his little finger and did not say anything about it. It encouraged him to do more. He touched that arm with his whole hand; and when Victoria continued being silent, he stroked it gently.

"James..." she said, giving him a sign that his mother might have seen what he was doing.

James looked at Mom, who was walking in the front, but she was deep in her thought that she did not bother to look to the back. He moved closer and took that hand in his. The hand was soft, as soft as Swift's paws. Swift the Fox, which turned out to be Victoria Luna; and she had been naked on his bed. That thought sent the blood straight to his dick and without waiting any longer, his dick was hard.

James tried to get rid off the image of naked Victoria by letting her hand go; and thank god, he had done it because suddenly Mom turned around. Did she read his thought again, or she _just_ knew it?

Now, he was sitting under a tree, whilst Victoria and Doc were talking about where to go. After a while, Victoria came to him. "Are you all right, James?"

"Yeah, sure," he said, trying to hide the pain.

She touched his head. Oh, her hand was soft and warm. "You look pale," she said.

"My skin is pale," James stood up, but because he stood up too fast, he lost his balance and bumped on to her. Her trained instincts made her to be able to catch him and to his embarrassment, his hard-on bumped on her lower part of the body. But Victoria did not say anything. She touched his face with the back of her hand and said, "You have blond hair,"

"Yes. Mom is blond and so is Papa. I have no other choice,"

She touched the hair above his ears. Her lips were so close to his, one wrong movement and their lips would meet. He felt the warm breath that came out from her mouth, touching his nose. The vanilla scent overwhelmed his senses, made him difficult to breathe. He closed his eyes. He did not care what would happen next, if those lips could be his. God, let them be his.

"Ahem...Little Brother…" Doc cleared his throat. "I think I know where we have to go,"

Reluctantly, he moved away from Victoria. God, she is so beautiful, he sighed.

"Coop has left his traces," Doc said, sniffing. "Come, we move now, before it's too late,"

Too late? Too late for what? But before he could ask that, Doc had already walked away. Victoria took his hand and dragged him with her.

"This is indeed a strange place," Doc said. "Nothing is what we see," he looked at Victoria. "Be alert, Luna. Don't let the wood get into you,"

Victoria let her hand go, James protested. "Why?" he asked. He liked the feeling to have her hand in his. Her hand was soft and warm. Everything about her seemed to be soft and warm, and round too. He laid his eyes on her body, from head to toes. He had seen them all and he wanted to see them again. Today, now, if it had been up to him.

Victoria was blushing. She obviously knew what he was thinking. "Concentrate, James," she said. "Doc was right,"

James looked around. He did not know what Doc meant. Everything looked like what a forest should look like, according to the books. The trees were big and high, so high that their leaves blocked the sky and did not let the sun to shine through. The air was heavy and wet and bushes covered the ground. Maybe there were animals in these woods – real animals and not weres, but he did not see any of them.

Doc took them to the South. He sniffed the air, checked the bushes to see if there was something unusual that was left by Cooper. Sometimes he stopped for a while and checked the ground. "You have to pay attention to everything, Little Brother," he said to James. "If you are tracking somebody or something, you may not miss. A little broken twig or a stone that you see or find might be a clue for you about what you might face or where you might go,"

James pulled himself together and tried to stay focused. 'Think about the reasons why you are doing what you are doing,' Godric once had said. 'Focus on those reasons and ignore the others. The others are only obstacles, doors you have to open, or boundaries you have to breakthrough,'

Well, he had two reasons why he wanted to go to the woods. First, to get whatever the Hounders and Mom wanted to find in the house at Jardin Buffon, and second, which was more important to him, to be with Victoria....no, it was not true. He would have not liked it if Victoria had not been here, but he would have gone with them anyway.

He sighed. Godric was correct. He had to focus on the reasons, the target. He would be with Victoria, sooner or later. And it seemed to him, she wanted to be with him too. She might not say it, not yet, but from time to time, she would turn around to check if he kept up with them. When he smiled at her or stared at her, her face would turn red; nevertheless, she would smile. She had to be his. Papa said, if a woman was on his mind all the time, he had to do whatever it took to make her his. Yes, Victoria would be his. Maybe not now, but soon.

Yes. He had to be focused now. The other things were only obstacles. Something he had to ignore. It would not be easy because one of them would be Victoria, but he must. He had to get to the house at Jardin Buffon and meet Mom and Cooper there.

James walked faster to catch up Doc. He listened carefully to what Doc said. It was fascinated him to see how that big man moved. Despite his big body, he moved lightly and fast. He did not make so much noise when he stepped on old branches that lay on the ground, he did not even make any noise when his feet were stepping on some leaves. As if, his feet were covered by fur that prevented them to make noises. From time to time, he would kneel down to take some grass or soil and sniffed them.

"They were here," Doc said.

"How did you know?" James looked around. He did not see anything. There was a strong odour coming from somewhere, but he did not know what it was.

"Coop had urinated on the tree over there. Poor tree," Doc grinned. "I hope he did not have to do it very often, otherwise the whole forest would smell like the men's room in a crowded bar during the happy hour,"

James never entered a bar before, but he could imagine how a public men's room smelt sometimes.

Suddenly the grin was gone. "Somebody else was here," he said. "Luna?"

Victoria sniffed the air. "No, I can't smell anything," she said.

"We are not alone," Doc said. Slowly grey hair covered up his body. His eyes were yellowish. "I don't like this,"

Suddenly Victoria grabbed James' hand. Obviously, she was afraid of Doc. She must have still remembered what happened the other night when Doc chased her around the yard. James kissed her head. "Don't worry, Swift," he whispered. "He would not do anything to you."

Victoria looked at James. Her green eyes were not so green any more. They were changing into orange. "Are you sure that you are just fourteen, James?"

His heart sank hearing that question. He wished he had been older. He wished he had been twenty-four or thirty-four. He hated being asked about his age, especially if the one who asked him was Victoria. To his annoyance, she smiled. "What?!"

"Your mouth is pouted,"

James was annoyed even more. "So what?!"

"It makes you look cute," she said and kissed the corner of his mouth.

The blood rushed into his head. He felt his face hot. "Vicky..." his own voice sounded strange in his ears. It was like moaning, as if somebody was out of breath. Maybe because his own lips were so close to hers now, like some minutes ago. He wanted to kiss those lips, but he did not know what to do.

Her hand touched his face, and then slowly, led his chin so that he faced her. Softly her finger touched his lips and opened them a little bit, before she replaced it with her lips. James closed his eyes as he felt her soft, wet lips caressed his and he moaned as her tongue wrapped around hers and sucked it. He put his hand around her waist and pulled her body close to his. He did not want to fall because swore to god he felt like he was going to. His knees were shaking; and he felt thousand watts of electricity running down his spines. With the other hand, he held her face and started kissing her back. He had never kissed a girl before and he did not know how, so he did whatever she did; and he did it softly and carefully because he did not want her to know that he had never done it before.

Suddenly he heard her gasping. For a moment he thought that he was hurting her, but then he realized, he held her too tight, now his dick, which was growing big and hard touched and pushed her lower body stronger than before.

She let herself go. "I am sorry," she said. "I should have not done it. I am so sorry," Then, she ran away from him and walked passing Doc by.

"Why?" James asked in desperation. Victoria was not able to hear him any more, or perhaps she did not want to hear him. He touched his lips with his finger. He liked being kissed, he liked her kisses. He wanted her to do that to him again and again because he liked the feelings inside his body when she did it. His blood rushed faster, his heart beat faster and something had happened that he could not explain, as if the whole part of his body was screaming and wanting to bust out.

Doc patted his shoulder as he was walking beside him. "Give her some times, Little Brother," he said. "Women always need a longer time to think. Don't ask me why, they just do,"

He knew, Doc wanted to ease his feeling, but it did not help at all. His heart still beat faster than ever, and watched Victoria swinging her hips in front of him like that, made him want to run after her and took her into his arms, kissed her and maybe even put his hands under her clothes to feel her skin, following the shape of her body...and perhaps even..._Concentrate,_ he told himself. _Focus, you idiot. Stay focused!_

James rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath. God, it would be a heavy and long journey for him.

"Be keen, Little Brother," Doc whispered. "This part of the woods bothers me,"

James looked around them. The bushes around them were as high as their knees, the trees seemed bigger and higher and the air was thicker. It was not cold, fortunately for them, but also not what he could call warm. For months like June, it was quite fresh. He had never been in a forest before. He could not say it the situation was usual or not.

One thing was strange, though. He did not hear any sound of animal. The forest was quiet. Were forests normally full of animals' sound, birds, insects...wind? And from where did those lights come from? Why did they look like some kind of walls? If the trees blocked the sun, should it be the forest a little bit dark and not bright like this? And why were the walls moving closer to them?

"What? What did you see, Little Brother?"

"There is something strange over there..." he pointed at one of the walls on the left. "It looks like wall....where is Victoria...?"

As James turned around, he saw Victoria walking through the wall some paces away from them. "Vicky!!" he ran towards her.

"James...wait!!" Doc called out his name, but it was too late. One moment was James there, and the next time he was gone. "Colin will not like this," Doc murmured. "Oh, children! They never listen," then he ran to the direction of James' disappearance.

James found Victoria standing in alert. She was holding guns in her hands. "Something is not right here," she said.

"Yeah, I feel it too," said James, looking around. He did not know what, but he felt his heart beating faster and it was not because he was standing close to Victoria. He swore he saw something moving around them. They did not make any noise, but he saw a kind of green light, moving fast and flowers...he smelt sweet fragrance of roses. Victoria smelt of vanilla, not roses. There were somebody else around them.

"Take this," Victoria gave him one of the guns.

James took the gun.

"Be careful with that," she said.

"I know how to use it," James said. "My uncle taught me,"

"Good," she opened her vest and James' jaw dropped when he saw what under her vest was. Five or six different kinds of knives, neatly arranged beside each other.

"You run around with that?"

"I am being careful,"

"It's not painful...when you know...when we hugged each other?" James did not remember so clearly, his mind had been more to her lips and not her vest as they had been kissing.

"A little bit," she said. Her face was blushing when she said, "You're a good kisser, you made me forget about the knives,"

James felt his head bloating. He's a good kisser, she said. Good, that she liked his kisses because he liked hers. It would be a torture for him if he was not able to kiss her again. He did not know if Victoria was a good kisser or not because he did not have anybody else to compare to, but he said, "You're a good kisser, too. And I like your kisses,"

"Concentrate, James," she turned around. "Aim the gun carefully,"

They stood back to back, watched anything that looked suspicious for them. Doc was nowhere to be seen. The walls, which James had seen, were gone; but the green lights that James had seen earlier were getting closer. He realized it was not a normal light; it was a movement of one or two persons, maybe even more.

"Somebody is coming," Victoria whispered. "Pull the trigger when I say it,"

James nodded.

The green light was getting closer. It's strange that the closer they were, the clearer it was for James to see what or who they were. They were three persons, long pale blond hair and dressed up in green. They moved around in circle with sticks in their hands.

"Now!" Victoria said.

James pulled the trigger. Bang! One of the people in green was hit and fell to the ground and loud screams filled the woods. James' elbow was ringing because of pain, but he ignored it.

Two men in green were on the ground. One of them was shot on the shoulder; the other had a knife on his leg. The one, who was not injured, was now standing in front of James. His face was full of hatred. His green eyes sent him thousand of icy needles, if it could kill, James would have been dead by now. He was holding a long stick, aimed dangerously at him.

Who were those people?

"A dirty blood and a shifter," he said; his voice was growling. "What a combination,"

"Look, Man," James said. "I don't know what your problem is, we came in peace to these woods and we don't look for any problems,"

"In peace?" the man, who was shot, said. His shoulder was wet from blood. "Those who come to a forest with weapons in their hands never come in peace,"

"You circled us and you wanted to attack us, what did you expect to happen?"

"You saw them?" Victoria turned around, surprised.

The man, who was standing, spat on the ground. "A dirty blood like you should be killed as soon as you were born. Your ability would only put us in danger and destroy the purity of our race,"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" asked Victoria.

James wanted to know too. What did they mean with 'dirty blood'? Her mother was a human and his father too, well, at that time.

"He doesn't know," the man who was hit by Victoria's knife was already standing. His face showed pain when he pulled out the knife.

"What?" James asked.

The man came closer to him and sniffed him. "Your blood is as dirty as the river at the end of its journey. You smell of the human, the Undead, wolf, and pfuih, us!" he spat on the ground.

Wolf? What did he mean with wolf? And them? Who was 'them'? James looked at Victoria who looked shocked. "Undead? Your father is a vampire?"

"Wolf...what do you mean with wolf? And you...who are you..." James asked. "My mother...she..."

"We are the guardians of the Bon Temps Woods. You and your shifter woman enter the sacred ground of the Faeries. You should not leave this place alive,"

Three of them raised their sticks, James and Victoria cocked their guns. "Human and their weapons," one of them said through his teeth. "They never learn,"

They were faeries. Mom had warned him about them. The protectors of the woods, like what Mom called. In his body, ran their blood...from whom? From Mom? Was it the reason she could read people's mind?

"Look, we will turn around and leave the forest, okay?" said Victoria. "We will not continue our journey and we will leave..."

"You have seen us, you may not leave," Three of them raised their sticks higher and were about to jump on them, when from behind a grey shadow jumped in the middle of Victoria and James and fell upon one of the faeries. Doc, in his wolf form, was baring his teeth to the other faeries. His ears were flat to the sides of his head. His fur bristled and his back was arched. The sound of his snarling made James' skin crawl. Doc was ready to kill.

The other faeries wanted to attack Doc, but Victoria threw her knife first. To James' amazement, Victoria moved as fast as the faeries. He could not see anything. He heard somebody screaming and feeling the wind move very quickly around him; however, the only things that he saw were shadows. Green and khaki shadows.

Suddenly he heard a high tune, as if somebody was using some kind of flutes. Aargh, he closed both his ears. It was painful. It looked like he was not the only one who heard that. Doc, who was still standing on the body of the faery, straightened up his body. The faery took that chance to push Doc off his body. Soon, he was standing on his on two feet, facing Doc menacingly.

"I should have known," the faery said. "You beast never come alone,"

The other two faeries stopped their fight too. Victoria was standing in front of them with knives in her hand. Her gun was somewhere on the ground.

The high tune was heard again.

"Aargh..." James pressed his ears stronger.

The three faeries looked at each other, and then in a blink of an eye they were gone.

Doc transformed back to his human form. "Little Brother," he touched James' shoulder. "Are you okay?"

The tune was still ringing in his ears, but yeah, he felt better.

"You are something, Little Brother. I did not know why Colin picked you. First, I thought it was because of Herveaux, but now I know, Colin saw right through you. He knew who you really are since the first moment he laid his eyes upon you. You have wolf blood in your body; I heard the faeries said..."

James moved away. "No...that's not true..."

Doc was taken aback. "What are you saying, Little Brother?"

"I know who my father is and he is not a werewolf, he can't be a werewolf," James felt his body shaken. If his father was a werewolf, then who was he? Papa was a vampire, not a werewolf. He did not want to have any other man as his father. Eric Northman was his father, and Godric – his father's maker was his grandfather. He did not want anybody else. Tears ran down on his cheek against his will. Eric Northman had to be his father because if he was not, then who? It couldn't be Alcide, otherwise Mom would say so. He knew Mom had been very angry when Alcide 'adopted' him without asking her. If Alcide had been his father, Mom would have not reacted that way.

"Little Brother, what does it matter if your father is a werewolf or not? You are my brother. You are a Grey Hounder,"

James shook his head. Eric Northman was his father. After almost ten years of asking who his father was, he finally met him. If he had not been the one, then who? He ran. He had to go home. He had to ask Papa about it. He had to know, if Mom had another man during that time. Papa must know about it.

"James!"

He heard Doc and Victoria called his name, but he did not care. He continued running. The small branches cut his face, arms and hands, but he did not pay any attention to them. He just wanted to leave the forest as soon as possible.

"James!"

Suddenly a hand stopped him. Victoria was finally able to catch him. "James, please," she said. "Where are you going?"

"I have to go home," he said. "I have to know who I am. Who am I, Vic?" James wiped off the tears from his cheek. "Who is my father?"

Victoria took him to her arms. "Does it matter? You are what you are, a Grey Hounder, the Little Brother of that horrible pack from Running Creek,"

"Why does Mom lie to me?"

"Ssst....you don't know that," Victoria held him tighter. She kissed his head. "You don't know that,"

"I thought he was my father...now I don't know any more..."

"Who?"

James looked up. Victoria's face was blurring from the tears, but he could see her green eyes shining through. "Victoria, my real name is James Frederick Northman," He felt Victoria's body was stiff. He held her tight. He did not want her to go. He felt better in her arm and he wanted to continue feeling that way. "...Stackhouse, but I never use the Northman part. Mom said, it's better that way,"

"Northman...." she whispered. "You are Eric Northman's son..."

"Mom told me that I am...but now I am not sure any more..."

"And you have wolf's blood running in your body..."

"No, that cannot be true..." James felt miserable. Papa couldn't be a werewolf and a vampire at the same time. Mom was definitely not. She never transformed under the full moon.

"I believe it is, James," Victoria wiped off his tears. "The werewolves are drawn to you, I have been drawn to you since the first day I saw you..."

"You have...?" suddenly he felt better. "Since we saw each other at Fangtasia...?"

"Since we saw each other at Fangtasia,"

"I thought you did not like me,"

"I did, but you are too young..."

"I don't want to hear it," his heart sank again. "In three and half years I will be eighteen. I can do whatever I want,"

"Until then, you will have a lot of girlfriends and you will forget about me,"

"No, I won't. I will not forget you, ever," as he was saying that, James grabbed her neck and kissed her, passionately. He wanted her to know that he would not have any other girlfriend, not now, not ever. He wanted her to be his girlfriend. He did not care that she was older than he was. He would be older too, one day and she could stop thinking about his age right now because he would not let her refuse him just because of that.

"James..." he heard her sighing. First, he thought she would push him away; but no, she kissed him back.

They moved quickly. Impatiently, James opened her vest and threw it on the ground. When Victoria's hands crawled under his t-shirt, touching his body, he pulled her shirt out of her trousers. He wanted to touch her skin too; he wanted to feel if it was as soft and warm as what he had imagined. Oh, it was very soft - softer than Swift's fur and warmer than he thought. His hands glided into her trousers and he moaned when they touched the two round and firm hills that he had been wanting to touch since the first time he had seen them. Victoria gasped as he squeezed them strongly, and suddenly she lost her balance. James was pushed back, his feet tripped over her legs and they fell into the bushes. She landed on him, but she was the one who complained, and then she laughed. James laughed too as he rolled his body and put her beneath him. He wanted to continue kissing her when he had a strange feeling that somebody was watching them.

Reluctantly he got up and pulled Victoria with him. Mom was standing some paces away from them. Her hand crossed her chest, her lips curled. She looked very angry. Behind her were Doc and Cooper. Doc lifted his hands, as if he wanted to say that he had not nothing to do with it. James brushed his clothes from dirt and grass, and then he removed some leaves from Victoria's hair. He tried to give his mother the most cheerful smile and voice he could master. "Hi, Mom! I am glad that you finally found us," he said. "Where have you been?"

*****


	25. I Love You, My Everything

Twenty-Four

**I Love You, My Everything  
**

Sookie wanted to grab James and slap his face until that grin fell off. He had no rights at all to smile and to act as if nothing had been wrong. Rolling himself in the bushes with a woman who might be twice older than he was was not what she could call 'all right' and also not exactly what she wanted to see when she finally found him.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck!_

And especially not with a woman, whose head was full with curses!

"Hi Mom!" James smiled widely and brushed the dirt on his body. "I am glad that you finally found us," he said. "Where have you been?"

Sookie felt her head exploding. James did not show any sign of regret or guilt on his face. He acted exactly like Eric, when she caught him of doing something that he knew very well would annoy her: smiling, grinning and spreading his charm with a hope that he would escape from her anger.

_We were just kissing; _his head told her, _it's nothing serious, Mom. _He passed her by, walked towards Cooper and Doc. Both Hounders took that chance to take some distance away from her and Det. Luna. They were having cold feet to be near her. They knew that she was angry and nothing was more dangerous than an angry mother was. She would turn the world upside down if necessary.

"Mrs. Stackhouse," Det. Luna fixed her vest and came to her. "I can explain,"

"What do you want to explain, Detective?" Sookie tried her best to sound cool. "Nothing happens between you two? That whatever you two did, it means nothing to you?"

"No, that's not what I wanted to say,"

"Good because I don't want my son to be treated as nothing,"

Det. Luna stood in front of her with a pale face. Sookie could see and hear that she was thinking very hard how to explain what she had just done, but she seemed not to able to find any word to start.

Finally, Sookie decided to tell her what _she _thought. "James is fourteen years old, Detective. He is a minor. If you ever dare to lay your filthy hands on my son again, I will report you to your superior officers. I will make sure that you lose your job and go to jail. I will also make sure that you will never ever find a job again,"

"Mrs. Stackhouse...." her eyes were getting red and tears fell down on her cheek.

"Don't tempt me," Sookie raised her face. "I appreciate your help and I will let you do your work to solve the murders among the werewolves, but if I ever see you near my son, if I ever see you touch his hand, I will make sure that you go to jail even before you open your mouth,"

She wiped off her tears. "We like each other, Mrs. Stackhouse,"

"HE IS A MINOR!"

"Don't you think I know that?" her nose was red. _I've been fighting with my feelings since the first day I saw him, _her head told Sookie. She wiped off her tears. _Especially, after I slept beside him. I can't forget his smell, his touch, the way he looked at me..._

Sookie did not want to hear this. This woman was thinking about her son, who was merely a man....like...what did she mean with sleeping beside him? Was she...? Was she the fox?

"Yes," she said when Sookie asked her.

"Did you sleep with him?"

"No," she said. _Not yet. _

Sookie felt her blood boiling. "Are you planning to?"

She did not answer; in her head, she was sobbing. _I don't know...God...I don't know..._She turned her face away. "No," she said after a while. She wiped off her tears. Her face was hard when she said. "You're right. He's a minor. I am sorry, I will not do it again," Then she walked away.

When they finally continued the journey, Sookie noticed that none of them opened their mouths. Cooper and Doc were in their ready-to-attack forms. They were not completely transformed, but the long rough grey hair was all over their bodies. Sookie saw that their hands were longer and bigger. Their finger nails were black, long and pointed. Det. Luna walked in the front, away from James. James did not try to catch her or to get near to her. Somehow, he seemed to understand that Sookie was angry and did not want to provoke her. Sookie noticed that James watched every move that Det. Luna made and saw how bright his face was. He was in love. The 'girl' that he had been thinking about the whole time was not a girl, but a woman, possibly twice older than he was.

Sookie sighed. Det. Luna was probably James' first love. What was she supposed to do? Should she let him continue having his feeling? Should she talk him into considering the choices? James was handsome, has good posture and clever. He could try to be a model if he wanted to and with her connection to the Queen, he could be a member of any modeling agency. James did not say much about his days at school in Baton Rouge, but Sookie had attended some occasions at his school and she could say that her son was quite popular. The Girls liked him.

Yes, probably she'd better wait. Soon he would go back to school. He would meet new girls and Det. Luna would return to Baton Rouge or to wherever the hell she came from. They would never meet again. If she forced him to leave her now, he would be more eager to be with her. It would be better if she stayed away from the whole situation. It was his first love, probably would be his first broken heart too. Let him enjoy for a moment and be there when he had his rough times. Yeah, it would be better if she did that way.

Sookie sighed and walked faster. The sandalwood scent reached her nose. Now, she'd better concentrate on the reason they came to this cursed place and got the hell out of there as soon as they were ready.

Spider webs and dust welcomed them as they entered the house. The place, which once had been one of Bon Temps jewels, now looked rotten. The furniture was at the places where Sookie had seen, but they were grey from dust and covered by many small crawling insects. Doc opened the windows to let the fresh air went in.

Sookie did not know what had happened at that place fifteen years ago. Francesco had taken her to Wilson's place and left that place. From Dušana-Aurora she heard stories about a big battle that had taken place here, how the werewolves and vampires had been turning into some kind of robot, following the order of one man, Daniel Wilson. "His mother was a powerful witch," she said. "She taught him everything she knew,"

"What are we looking for, Miss Sookie?" Doc asked.

"I don't know, honestly," Sookie said. "Take everything we can get and leave,"

Doc and Cooper looked for a box, when they did not find it, Cooper said something about making it themselves. Sookie, James and Det. Luna collect all books and paper they could find and gather them on the table.

Somehow, Sookie admired Det. Luna. She was determined not to look at James. When their eyes met accidentally, her green eyes did not give James a sign of any feeling. James smiled or stood very closed to her, trying to steal a touch or a glare from her, but it did not work. After a while, the table was full with books, rolls of old parchment, paper and some boxes, which were carved with beautiful ornaments.

"I don't want to take these," Sookie said. "They could contain jewellery,"

"We can always return them," James said. "Victoria can take them and look for the next of kin of...who lived here?"

_He calls her Victoria, _Sookie thought. _Not Detective Luna any more._

Sookie touched the boxes. "Daniel Wilson," she said. "Francesco's son,"

_The one who tried to kill Papa,_ James looked at her. _Papa as in Eric Northman?_

What was he thinking about? Of course it was Eric...who else?

James turned his face away. "I want to go out," suddenly he said and left her.

"James?" Sookie wanted to follow him, but Det. Luna shook her head.

"Let him go," she said. "He was confused,"

"About what?"

"Who his father is,"

Sookie closed her eyes. He had told Det. Luna about Eric.

"I can keep a secret, Mrs. Stackhouse," she said. She walked slowly towards her. "We had met three faeries some time ago. One of them told us that James had wolf blood...it confused him. He thought that perhaps the one he believed to be his father was not his real father after all..."

"Silly boy," Sookie sighed. "Of course he is,"

Det. Luna's face was getting hard. "Cooper and Doc believe that his father is a werewolf," The certainty in her voice made Sookie looked at her. What did she mean? Was she the one who gave James the idea? "The werewolves think differently. They are animals in human forms," now, her voice sounded disgusted. "They don't think or react with their brains, but their instincts. Their decisions are influenced by scents, the smells in the air, the emotions they feel and many times by the signals that are sent by the others. James – your son, Mrs. Stackhouse, sends very strong signals and his scents are so like drugs for us. I believe, the werewolves out there can't think straight any more every time he is around. Their body reacts crazily; my body reacts crazily... differently...."

Her body or her libido? Sookie stared at her. Now she could see Det. Luna's face clearly. She had high cheekbones and green eyes. Her eyes were puffy because of tears, but Sookie still could see that they were beautiful. Her jet-black wavy hair was rolled together on the back of her head. Sookie had seen it opened some moments ago. It was long and beautiful.

"But I give you my words, Mrs. Stackhouse, I will not come on to your son. Please, give me a chance to prove it to you," she said. Her eyes were watery again. She was afraid. "I love my job," she said. "If you report me, I will lose my job,"

"You should have thought about it before you seduced him,"

"I did not seduce him," she said. "It happened. He saved me from the Grey Hounders and took me to his bed. I planned to leave his room and I waited for him to sleep, but I was exhausted from running and fell asleep. He had been awake when I woke up, watching me. He saw me naked and aroused...." she continued in her head, _God, his eyes! He fucked me with his eyes!_

Sookie lifted her hand. "I don't want to hear it,"

"I did not touch your son that night," she continued. "We did not sleep with each other; you have to believe me,"

"You kissed him!"

"Yes, and I am not proud of it," she said. "But he has such an aura that I can't resist. I believe, neither can the werewolves. For us, he is like the lamps to the insects; we are drawn to him, just like that. At the beginning, I didn't know how it could happen. Now I know why. It is the wolf blood that runs in his vein, Mrs. Stackhouse, it made him irresistible to us. He is still very young, I know that, the werewolves know that too, but…" suddenly her face was blushing. "…he is very persistent with what he wants," she turned away. In her head she continued, _fuck! What the fuck did I say that for?! _

And James wanted Det. Luna, the way Eric wanted her. Like father like son, James would not stop until he got what he wanted; Sookie was sure about it. Eric had not stopped teasing her, challenging her, seducing her until he got what he wanted: Getting into her pants. James wanted the same from Det. Luna. Sookie closed her eyes. "But he's still very young..." she sighed.

"I know," Det. Luna faced her. Her lips were trembling when she said, "Can you imagine what will happen when he is older and getting too strong for weres and shifters? He will be considered dangerous by some and might be god-like by the others,"

Sookie had never thought of that and she was grateful that Det. Luna told her. She sighed. The woman in front of her was confused, _very _confused. Something told Sookie, Det. Luna had been honest about her feelings for James. She liked him, maybe it was too early to say it; she might love him too. "But he's still too young…"

"I know," tears fell down on her cheek again. She wiped them off. "I know what I have to do. Just, please give me a chance to prove it,"

"How old are you, Det. Luna?"

"I will be twenty-five this year," she said. "And this is my first big case. I cannot fail,"

Sookie knew how it felt to handle the first case. She had been there before. Yes, she believed her. Det. Luna would force herself to stay focused on her case than on James. She might probably be able to refuse the advantages that James tried to offer her.

Sookie took a deep breath. "All right, I give you the second chance. But as soon as I catch you with James....."

"Thank you, Mrs. Stackhouse," she cut her sentences and took Sookie's hand. She shook it hard. "You can trust me,"

Cooper and Doc entered the room with some kind of a carriage. They had made it from dry wood and tree roots. They put the books, paper and boxes on that carriage and carried them out. James was sitting on one of the stones in the front yard. He pouted his mouth and crossed his arm. He always did that if something was bothering him; and clearly, whatever he had heard from the faeries was bothering him. His eyes were shining brightly when Det. Luna passed him by and gave him a smile. Sookie pretended not to see that. She also did the same when James took her hand and pulled her close to him.

_Goodbye, J.F Northman-Stackhouse,_ Sookie heard Det. Luna saying in her head. _Goodbye._

_Again, Victoria. Kiss me, again. Now. _Sookie heard James sighing in his head. _I'll die if you leave without kissing me._

Sookie forced herself to ignore whatever she was hearing. She knew, if she turned around, she would find them kissing. However, she would not do it. Det. Luna was saying goodbye to James, and for the sake of her head; she'd better keep her promise, otherwise Sookie would use her influences to make sure that Det. Luna lost everything she had.

"Little Brother, hurry up, will you?" said Cooper suddenly. "We have to leave the woods before dark,"

"Come to me tonight," Sookie heard James whispering. He was out of breath. "You've got to come to me tonight,"

Det. Luna did not answer.

"Victoria...please...I'll let the windows open,"

Again, there was no answer.

Sookie heard a sound of kissing, and then she saw Det. Luna walking very fast, passing her by.

"Vicky!" James called her out and chased her, but Det. Luna was faster. Soon, she disappeared among the trees.

James stopped running.

Doc patted his shoulder. "She is a god damn fast girl. You'll catch her, Little Brother. You'll catch her,"

It was dark when they were out of the woods. Det. Luna's car was not there any more. They put the books and the paper in the car trunk; the boxes they put on their laps. James bit his pinky as the car slowly was rolling. His eyes fixed on the woods, but his mind was on Det. Luna. He did not understand why she had left him like that. He wanted to go downtown tomorrow. He wanted to see her again; he had to know why she had done that to him. She had been on his bed, naked, he had seen her body and he liked what he had seen. They had kissed, didn't it made them boyfriend-girlfriend? That was what the guys at school said. If one of them kissed a girl, then the girl became his girlfriend. Victoria was his girlfriend! God, he wanted her; he wanted her so much that his body ached. Suddenly, he cursed himself for not being able to think about something else. There were questions he wanted to ask 'Papa', he had to stay focused on those questions. He also cursed his dick for staying hard and big….and…

Sookie turned her face away as she heard his last thought and felt guilty for listening to his very intimate thoughts. Her son was not a boy any more. He was entering his manhood phase and he wanted his woman badly.

The lights in the mansion were already on as they entered the ground. Alcide was there with his men and Eric had been awake already. James went out of the car and ran to Eric, who was standing at the kitchen's door. Ignoring many pairs of eyes, he let himself fall into Eric's arm and held him tight. He spoke rapidly in Old Norse and then looked at Eric, who was looking at Sookie. His eyes were cold and narrowing. He took James' head in his hands and spoke something in Old Norse. His voice was soft and gentle. Sookie could not see James' face, but from his body gesture, it seemed that he was calming down.

_He is the father. He is the one who carried the blood of the first táhshah._

Somebody was thinking aloud. Sookie turned around and saw Cooper looking at Eric with a strange light in his eyes. She also saw, Doc had the same look. They must have figured it out. They were after all werewolves, who lived their lives depended on body gestures, mimic and scents. And the body gestures that Eric and James were having now, was obviously clear for them. James considered Eric as his father, his protector.

James nodded, and then he went inside.

Sookie came to Eric. "Hi," she said. Eric looked pale and dull tonight. He needed fresh blood. She tiptoed to kiss his cheek. "You should drink your True Blood," she whispered.

Eric took her hand and asked her to sit down beside him. "What was that all about?" he asked. "He said he didn't want to have any other father," a fainted smile was on the corner of his mouth.

Sookie told Eric what had happened in the woods. How they had been separated and that she had met Niall, whilst James had met other faeries. His face was as expressionless as before when she told him about the cure that Niall had given him. It looked as if the pain that he had long time ago was a distant memory....or perhaps something that he wanted to forget.

"Now they know," Eric threw his gaze at outside. The Hounders were gathered; Alcide was some steps away from them.

"I am afraid so,"

"And he smells of a shifter," Eric sniffed. He looked neither impressed nor shocked by the possibility that the werewolves knew who James' real father was. Instead, he was more curious about what James had done with the shifter. "What did he do? Rolling himself in the bushes with her?"

Sookie knew Eric was being sarcastic, but that was exactly what James and Det. Luna had done. Shifter, Det. Luna was a shifter and not a werefox. Now Sookie understood why James had told Det. Luna that he would let the windows open. She could transform into any animal she wanted, probably she would transform into a bird and flew inside his room – or at least that was what James wanted. "He did," She laid her head on Eric's chest. "He is in love with Victoria Luna,"

Eric snorted. "He wants her, I can feel it," he said. "It's not necessary that he loves her,"

James had drunken Eric's blood; therefore, Eric was able to feel what James felt. Why it didn't make her feel better?

Colin and the others entered the kitchen. Sookie straightened her body.

"I am sorry to bother you, Sookie," Colin said. "A woman named Grace called today. She said she had something for you and she expected you to come as fast as you can,"

"Thank you, Colin," she said. "I'll call her tonight. She has something important for us; I would appreciate if one of your men could accompany me to go there, or to pick it up,"

Colin nodded. "I don't know how you would arrange it, Sheriff," he said. "Alcide and his men are ready to work for you. I would like to stay here, with your allowance, until Sookie's son is able to go to Beaumont,"

"Then stay," Eric said.

"Thank you," Colin said.

"Does James have to go to Beaumont?" Sookie asked. "Is it really necessary?"

"To become a full member of the pack he has to go through some ceremonies, but it's all up to Little Brother how he wants it and to Alcide. How would you want it, Alcide?"

Eric's eyes were looking at Alcide dangerously. Sookie could feel how tensed his grips on her shoulder. Alcide felt that tension too. He looked at her and said, "I will leave it up to James and Sookie. And Eric, of course,"

"I can't leave Shreveport," Eric said. "As a Sheriff I have to stay, unless my Queen says something else. If you ask me about his decision to be a full member of your pack or not," he looked at Colin straight into the eyes. His eyes were cold and stern when he said, "James Stackhouse is man enough to decide what he wants. I'll respect his decision,"

That night they were busy putting the paper and the books in order. They did it outside on the yard because the books and the paper were dirty. Sookie did not want to have the dust and the animals inside the books in the house.

Wilson must have been very interesting in wolves because his books were mostly about them. He also collected the books about werewolves – a lot of them, in different languages. Some of them were written in alphabets Sookie could not even read.

"That's how he could control us," Alcide said. "He studied about our weaknesses,"

"He was a son of a witch, he knew how to control you without reading those books," Eric said. "I don't like witches. You can't control them,"

Everybody in the room looked at him. It was clear for them that the Sheriff of Shreveport was afraid of the witches, just like them. His voice sounded higher than usual, but they did not say a word. They knew it was better not to give any comment to his last sentence. They knew his strength; any wrong word could be their last word.

There were some drawings, which could be houses, but since none of them could read architecture drawings, they rolled the parchment and kept them separated.

Eric was interesting in some kind of notebook. He seemed to recognize the handwriting on it. The book had leather for its cover and the pages were yellowish. He took the book and left the yard. Sookie followed him. He was sitting on the edge of the bed when Sookie entered Aude's room. He was touching the book carefully. The writing itself was from gold. "Cecco's diary," he said to Sookie. He lifted the book so Sookie could see what was written on it.

"What is that for a language?" asked Sookie when she could not figure out what it meant.

"Italian,"

"It must be an old Italian language," she said. Well, what did she know about Italian language? She did not know any word in Italian, but it must have been old, considering the condition of the book and the time of the writing.

"It doesn't make any different to me," Eric said. "I knew his Italian,"

Sometimes Sookie forgot that Eric had been living forever. Yes, of course he knew Francesco's Italian, perhaps they had even talked with each other in his Italian. What was 'his Italian' anyway? Were there many Italian languages?

"Dialects," Eric said. "They have a lot of dialects," he smiled, as if memories sprung to life. "Francesco came from Piacenza, and he spoke Piacentino,"

"Piacenza? Where is that?"

"Northern Italy," he said. When he saw that 'Northern Italy' was not enough information for her, he continued, "Christopher Columbus lived there once. I heard about this crazy sailor who wanted to find a new world, I thought, I might join him. Ships and seas were part of my blood," his eyes were soft. He was remembering his human life. "So I talked to him and he agreed to have me in his ship. He needed the money and somebody who knew and loved the sea as well as he did. He put me in a box inside his chamber, under his bed, protected from the sunlight. It was risky, but we could manage," Then, he smiled. "Giorgio Armani was also born there,"

"Ah, now I know where Piacenza is," Sookie said cynically.

Eric smirked. "Cecco and his crazy food," he continued. "He liked making a jar of fruit in sugary and mustard syrup for Marguerite. Cecco and his _Mostarda di Frutta_, it drove her mad because she did not like mustard, but to make him happy she ate them in front of him. When Cecco fell asleep, she poured out the mostarda. I threatened her that I would tell Cecco what she had done one day and she bribed me with her blood," There was a strange light in his eyes. Sookie wondered if Eric had slept with the woman of his best friend. As if he could read her mind, he said, "No. Cecco loved Marguerite very much and he was my friend. Marguerite was taboo for me because if I had slept with her, I would have broken his heart. And I loved him dearly, I didn't want to hurt him. Beside, I would not destroy my friendship because of a witch. She offered herself to me one day, and asked me to leave him because she believed that my presence would only bring danger to him,"

"What did you do?"

"I said to her that she could keep her body for her man because if it was his safety she worried about, I left willingly and as long as I could protect him, I would not leave. Besides, her body meant nothing to me. She cursed me for that. No man had ever rejected her before. I said to her that I am not a man, I am a vampire,"

"And what did she say?"

His face was stern. "She cursed me and said, one day I will meet a woman, whose body I can't reject and that woman would die rotten in front of me, so that I know her fear of losing somebody she truly loved,"

Then Eric was quiet. He must have been thinking about Aude. They were together for more than fifty years, from the time when Aude had been still a virgin until the day she had died. He had women in between, Sookie knew that; he had her, but she believed Eric had never stopped thinking about Aude.

Eric put the book on the night desk and reached out his hand. Sookie came to him and stood between his legs. He hugged her and put his head on her stomach. There was something bothering him. Eric acted like that when he was not sure about himself or confused. She bowed a little and kissed his head and she was shocked to feel how cold Eric's head was. She realized, his hands were also cold, colder than the usual. "You need to eat," she said. "You have to drink some True Blood,"

Slowly Eric let her go. "I'll go to Fangtasia and have some," he said. He kissed her hand and 'click' his fangs were bared. He wanted her blood, Sookie could feel it how he was aroused. She turned her hand around and gave her wrist. "Take it," she said. "It's okay. You need it,"

His cold lips touched her palm, sending shiver straight to her bones. His eyes were flickering and Sookie gasped as those fangs were bored into her wrist. She had to hold on his shoulder as he sucked her blood strongly; otherwise, she might fall.

"Mom..." James' voice made Eric stop sucking. Sookie turned around and found James standing at the door. Clearly, he looked uncomfortable seeing his father sucking her blood, he turned his face away. "Sorry, Pa," he said as Eric lifted his face. His mouth was covered with blood. He sniffed and turned around. It was obvious that he did not want James to see him like that.

"Yes, James?" she said, wiping off the blood from her wrist. Eric stood up and went to the bathroom. When he returned, he had a roll of bandage with him. Quickly he licked the rest of the blood and wrapped the wound with the bandage.

"There is something that I have to know," he walked in and closed the door behind him.

"Come here," said Eric, throwing the bandage on the bed.

James walked towards him.

In gentle and slow tone Eric told James what happened that night when Dušana-Aurora had attacked him, and how the faeries had cured him. He was as expressionless as before, as if that night had never happened. "I am glad that I don't have wolf-blood in my body any more because there is nothing more that I despise than living as a half-life,"

"Aunt Dušana-Aurora was the one who attacked you? I thought she loved Godric,"

"She does," Sookie said. "Very much, but she didn't know Godric back then and she thought that your father wanted to kill her father,"

"Does it mean I will be able to transform like the Hounders?"

"No, I don't think so," Eric said. "Otherwise you will reject my blood the moment you drank it,"

James shrugged his shoulder. "For a moment I thought it was cool to be able to transform," he said.

"Don't be so greedy, James," Eric smirked. "You can read my mind, make the werewolves do what you want, see the faery world with your naked eyes, what else do you want?"

He did not say, but Sookie knew what he wanted. Victoria Luna.

"The key of survival is not what you have, but to master what you have," Eric walked closer. "And if you have weaknesses..."

"...try to change them, and if you can't change them, learn to accept them," James continued, putting a smile on Eric's face. "And God, give me strength to recognize the difference,"

"You listened well, my son,"

"Who said that?" asked Sookie. That was a very good advice.

"Godric," Eric and James answered, at the same time.

When had Godric ever said things like that? Every time she saw him, he was busy playing children games with James or all over Dušana-Aurora. Like any other teenagers, Godric seemed never to get enough with sex. In Godric's case, he never got enough with Dušana-Aurora. When Sookie visited her and Godric was there, she always found him kissing her, touching her and probably they would end up doing it on the floor if she and James had not been there.

James hugged Eric. "I love you, Papa," he said. He put his head on Eric's unbeating chest. Eric hugged him back. His hands were shaking. Then, he said, "Jag älskar dig, mitt allt"

Tears ran down on Sookie's cheek. Whatever Eric said, it sounded beautiful. He must have something nice because she saw a wide smile on James' face and his eyes were watery. When he let Eric go, he walked backward to the door. Smiling for one more time, he opened the door and went out.

"What did you say to him?" Sookie looked at Eric and to her surprise; she saw two streams of blood tears running down on his cheek. He looked straight into her eyes when he said, "I love you, My Everything,"

"Come here." Sookie said, wiping off her tears, opening her arm and hugged him tight as soon as he was in it. She kissed his cheek and answered his kiss passionately when he kissed her. Suddenly, he threw her onto the bed and impatiently opened her jeans. "I am stinking," she said. "Let me have a short shower,"

"I don't care," he said. He opened her blouse, and then his own shirt. "I like it when your body smells stronger,"

"James can come in at any minute,"

"He can hear my thought, he won't go in," He opened his trousers.

"There are many werewolves out there,"

"Let them hear you scream," he crawled upon her body.

"Eric..."

"Yes, Lover?"

Finally, Sookie gave in. She did not see any chance that she could escape from his desire; and she was glad that she had done it. Even when it was short and quick, Eric did it strong and hard, she could feel her body burst out with excitement when Eric was exploding in her. She swore that if Eric had been a human, his back would have been bleeding by now because she had buried her fingernail onto it, so strong that Eric moaned loudly.

"Woman, you are killing me," said Eric, lying on the bed, exhausted. His hand ran down on her back, his eyes were shining brightly.

Sookie kissed his nose, and then off the bed. She snatched her blouse, which was lying beside Eric. It looked like Eric had ripped off some of its buttons. "I am taking a shower now," she said. "And you'd better go down and make sure that the werewolves will behave themselves if I go down. Or I'll kill you, again,"

Eric raised his body. "Is that a threat?" he smirked. "I don't like being threatened. Show me how you will kill me now or consider yourself defeated and let me show you to kill me, again,"

Smiling, Sookie threw her blouse at him. Yeah, right.

"I mean it,"

Sookie closed the bathroom door. She knew he did. If it had been up to him, they would have never left the room!

*******

Standing in the dark, watching James and Cooper talked about going to Beaumont, made Alcide somehow feel like an outsider. They were talking as if they had known each other for years. There was a light in Cooper's eyes that he had never seen before; a light of love and admiration, as if that Hounder was seeing something precious.

James Stackhouse was precious, in a way. He was after all the son of the woman he loved. More than that, he was a good boy and like his mother, he had a warm heart. He was helpful, polite and seemed to be sincere. And sometimes, when he watched him playing with Janine's children; it lightened up his heart already, like a father who was watching his son playing.

His father had told him to watch over James Stackhouse. There was something in him that was not usual. His father did not know whether James would bring goodness or evilness in the werewolf community, but that boy had to be watched. "If he becomes our enemy, we know what to do," his father said. "Don't let him out of your sight,"

He did not mean to.

"Something is bothering you, my friend," a soft voice made him turn around. Colin Purefoy. Alcide cursed his carelessness. He had been off guard. For a werewolf, it could mean death.

"You are watching Little Brother in a way that I don't like, if I may say," Colin moved closer. "You took him as a son, but why doesn't the wind convince me? Or is it his mother you want to claim?"

"I introduced him to you; never forget that, Colin,"

The flame at the end of Colin's cigarette was for a moment brighter. "I shall not," he said. "But what is it that bothers you?"

"Don't you feel it? We all like dogs in front of him, weak and useless. Do you ever consider that he might use whatever he has against us?"

For a moment, Colin was quiet. The leader of The Grey Hound knew what he was talking about. Or had he tasted James' power already? "The idea of you wanting his mother is more intriguing than thinking that Little brother might destroy us," he said. The light of his cigarette showed his mocking smile. "He is an interesting boy. He has after all, an interesting mother. Don't tell me that your love for her has blinded your sight and unsharpened your senses. She is not a human; trust me. I can smell her blood,"

Alcide knew that. He had smelt that blood for a long time. It was and it had been intoxicating for him. He remembered when the first time he smelt it. She must have cut her finger and the air had taken the smell of her blood everywhere. When he found the source of the sweet strong smell, he saw Northman sucking her finger. He had been ready to transform, to protect her from being sucked dry by Northman, when that old vampire turned around and left. Alcide could see his fangs bared and his eyes flicker with madness. That vampire wanted her and he would not stop until he got what he wanted.

Aude smiled when he told her what he thought. "Keep an eye on them, Alcide. Don't let Eric hurt her. She is very dear to me. Her grandmother was my friend. I don't want something bad happen to her; otherwise I would not be able to forgive myself,"

"Your husband wants her; you know what it means,"

"Yes, dear. I know what it means," she sighed.

"You don't mind that he cheats on you?"

"Dear Alcide, look at me. You know how much I love and respect my husband and I trust him completely. He will not do that to me," Then, she smiled. "Unless it is a new love. I would be more than willing to see it happen,"

Aude Northman, what a strange woman! Alcide knew that if Northman slept with Sookie, it wouldn't be the first time or the last time that he cheated on Aude. Eric Northman, some said that he was older than the existence of Louisiana was, even much older than the existence of America as a country. However, he had a body of a man in the end of his twenties; and as a man himself, Alcide knew what the body on that age wanted. Sex, sex and sex. Northman must have many women during his marriage with Aude. That woman was getting older day by day, whilst Northman stayed the same. It would be a lie if somebody told him otherwise. Although he had to admit, as long as he worked for Northman, he had never seen him bringing any woman to the mansion, but it did not mean that he had not done it outside.

He clenched his teeth. He remembered hearing the sound of their love making for the first time. Northman had taken Sookie on the cold floor somewhere on the first floor. He knew it because he heard the sound of the table hitting the window or the flower vase. He heard Sookie screaming Northman's name; in fact, he heard everything. He had to stand far away from the mansion because he could not stand hearing the noises that they made. He was burnt with jealousy and agony. His suspicion was proven right as in the morning he saw the condition of the library and the smell of Northman's sperm and Sookie's sweat and juice. It made him want to throw up because of anguish. If he had been the man, he would have taken her on the warm bed in a room lightened by candlelight, perhaps roses on the floor and on the bed too. He would make love to her with gentleness and tenderness; and not like that. Northman smirked at him as he showed him clearly that he did not like what he had done to Sookie.

"You would kill her if you continue sucking her blood," he said opposite to what he wanted to say.

"Then I'll make sure that I don't do it, Alcide," Northman said. "She means to me a lot more than you ever imagine,"

What would Northman know about what he had imagined about Sookie? Nothing, but Alcide did not want him to know.

"You want her, I can smell it," Northman bared his fangs. "I am a good keeper of what is mine, Alcide. Remember that,"

"Love her well, Eric. She deserves it,"

Northman smirked and did not say a word.

"Don't let your emotion cloud your judgement, Alcide," Colin's voice brought him back to the present time. "As the future leader of your clan, you're perfectly aware of that. Your clan depends on you. Even if you are able to win her heart, you still have to provide your clan offspring. She is not a werewolf; she can't give you an offspring for your clan. Think about it, my friend,"

"I know," Alcide said and he despised it. He wanted to marry Sookie and he would, if only the rule of the clan had been written differently. He was the first son of his family; he had to take a pure werewolf to be his wife, to guarantee the line of his family; of the clan.

Colin patted his shoulder. "He will not destroy us, Alcide. The Niish keeper told me and he has never been wrong with what he said,"

The Niish keeper was how the Grey Hounders called Matt Cooper. The Grey Hound, a strange clan from Texas. They followed the ancient rules from their ancestors. They learned the secret of the moon and the nature just like the ancient people of Akokisan. They cultivated their cattle and land like their fathers before them. They did not use any chemical stuff in their food product. Nowadays and people called it 'nature' or 'bio' products. The price was always more expensive than the non-bio products but the taste was better. There had been huge campaign about going back to nature, to use or cultivate food without any chemical agents and people thought it was something new. The Hounders had been doing it for ages and did not brag about it.

Somehow, Alcide wondered if the Hounders also followed their ancestors' ritual or habit. The elders said that the Hounders ate the flesh of their enemies. The Atakapan – that's how the elders called them – the Man-Eaters.

"What did Cooper tell you?" Alcide pushed away the thought. Standing beside a man, whose legend or rumour included eating man flesh and doubting if the legend was true or not was not exactly a comforting thought.

"James Stackhouse has wolf-blood in his body," Colin threw the cigarette rest on the ground. "It makes me start thinking whether he is your real son or not,"

Alcide looked at James. That boy carried wolf-blood, hmh, who was his father? The way he acted around and towards Northman, he could swear that the boy accepted that vampire as his father. His eyes shone brightly every time he saw him and a little acknowledgement from him able to draw a smile on his face. And tonight, when he arrived from the woods, he ran into Northman's arm as if he was afraid that he might have been losing him. He saw also the way Cooper and Doc looked at Northman. The look of disgust that he had seen before now disappeared and changed into respect, perhaps even fear. Something has happened in the woods; and he wanted to know what it was. Did the Hounder think that Northman had wolf-blood in his body? Did they think that he was James' father? Alcide looked at the mansion. Was Northman James' father? He looked at James. Something unseen struck his heart like a lightning struck a tree. From a distance, he could see clearly, of whom James reminded him. The way he listened to Cooper, the way he looked at him with that pair of piercing blue eyes...Northman. Those were Northman's gestures. The different was, James laughed and smiled a lot, like Jason. Northman was mostly expressionless. James was wearing black hair now, but Alcide knew it was not his real hair. He had blond hair and it hair started to show. One could argue it was normal because Sookie had blond hair, but so did Northman. And those greenish blue eyes...they belonged to Northman, not Sookie. Sookie had greyish blue eyes. God...how stupid he could be! His knees were shaking.

"Alcide, are you all right?" Colin caught him before he fell onto the ground.

Alcide caught his breath. "I am fine, thank you,"

"You look pale, my friend," Colin said.

Colin would also be pale if he knew what he was thinking.

Suddenly James stood up. "Somebody is coming," he said.

The werewolves were alerted. They looked around. Nobody smelt or saw anything. What was James talking about?

"The vampires," his voice was choked. "They are coming,"

"I take care of James," Colin said. "Your call, Alcide," then he went to James. "Gentlemen," he said to his men. "We have a company. Don't disappoint them. James, you come with us,"

James followed Colin and the Hounders; and disappeared into the darkness.

Alcide told his men to make some kind of barricade, whilst he was running inside the house. Northman opened the door of his bedroom with shirt wide open. From the corner of his eyes, Alcide saw how messy the bed was. Sookie came out of the bathroom, wearing only bathrobe. Her hair was wet and there was a wound on her wrist. The sweet scent from her blood aroused him, but when he caught the familiar woman's scent and man's sperm, the arousal changed into disappointment. They just had a sex. Alcide pulled himself together and straightened his body. He could only hope that his voice sounded normal when he said, "We have a company. James said, the vampires are coming,"

"Thank you, Alcide," Eric said. "We'll come down in a minute,"

He nodded and left. On the way down, he cursed himself for having hot stomach and burning chest. He had to stop feeling like this every time he saw Sookie and Northman together. He would only hurt himself. And in a situation like tonight, he could not afford to lose his concentration. "Merde!" he said, then walked slowly towards his men and joined them forming a line. From the gate, he saw a shadow of a man, running.

******


	26. The Boy with the Dogs

**Author's Note: Thanks to Vic. Don't forget to put the silver pearls if you make doughnuts! I love silver pearls!**

**About Prescott, I used his name only, but not the character. Sorry ;)**

Twenty-five

**The Boy with the Dogs  
**

"Eric..."

That last word came from his lips before he fell to the ground. His body that covered by blood was like an old leaf blown by the wind.

The werewolves moved some steps backward. Silver. His blood smelt of silver.

"Eric?" Sookie looked at him. "Don't you want to help him?"

"I can't," Eric said. "He gets silver poisoning. His blood will be like an acid to my skin and to the werewolves,"

Sookie came forward and knelt down. Her heart sank when she saw who the person was. Bill Compton. His blue eyes shone through his blood covered face. "Sukeh..." he said. "What a pleasure to see you, Ma'am."

"James!" Sookie called out. "James!!"

Nobody could help her lift Bill or even if they could they did not want to, except James. Where the hell was that boy? If Bill was left here, he would die. Either because of losing blood or killed by the sunlight.

Eric left and in less than a minute, he was back with James. Behind them were the Hounders.

"Yes, Momma?" asked James. He was frowned when he saw Bill. "Mr. Compton..." he knelt down in front of him.

"Help me lift him, James. He can't stay here,"

"Where are we taking him?"

"Take him to the storage room," Eric said. "He will be safe there,"

"A table, we need a table," Doc suddenly said. "We can put him on the table and carry him inside, Miss Sookie,"

One of the werewolves ran to inside and returned with a table. Sookie and James lifted Bill Compton and put him on it.

"You keep his body steady, Little Brother," Doc said. "We can carry the table. Don't let him touch us. He could kill us,"

Doc and Larry lifted the table and with James holding Bill's body they went inside. Sookie led them to the storage room. Carefully Sookie and James put him on the floor.

"True Blood, he needs True Blood," Sookie said.

James took some bottles from the shelf, opened one of them and gave it to Sookie.

"What happened, Bill?" asked Sookie as she poured the content of True Blood into his mouth. Bill's eyes blinked, but he did not say a word.

"André is coming," James looked at Sookie. "He was chased by some human and vampires and he is closer to this place. Eric should be prepared,"

"How do you know, Little Brother?" Doc asked him. In his head, he said. _This boy starts to freak me out._

"I just do," James said. He stared at Doc and then at Larry. "You two will keep whatever I said between you and nobody else,"

To Sookie's surprise, those two big men nodded. "Yes, Little Brother," they said.

Sookie's skin crawled. James ordered them like a master ordered his dogs to sit or to jump and his dogs obey, without asking any question.

"What?" he whispered.

"Nothing," she said, smiling. "What else did he say?"

"We should leave him here, he will be all right. Eric will need my help," he said. "André, we have to help him," he stood up. "We'd better go, Mom,"

Sookie wanted to stay, but Bill said, "I will be fine, Sukeh. Go," Before they left, Sookie asked James to help her to put Bill in a better position. Doc took down a box of True Blood and put it beside Bill.

"You look like shit, Man," he said. "Make sure that you drink a lot. It will help you gain some liquid back,"

Sookie looked at Doc. Was that why they called him 'Doc'? He treated Bill as if he was his patient.

"I am a doctor, Miss Sookie," he said when Sookie asked him. "I don't practise, but I went to college, got myself a degree and could work as a doctor, if I wanted to,"

"And why not?"

"Will you let your children be treated by a man who can change himself into a wolf?" he smiled, but his eyes looked bitter.

"You have us, Doc. You have enough to do!" said Larry.

"What is your real name, then?"

"Caelestis," Doc murmured; and Larry snorted.

"Celeste?" Sookie looked at him. "That's a girl's name!"

"No, not Céleste. C-a-e-l-e-s-t-i-s,"

"What does your name mean? Your name has a meaning, doesn't it?" asked James.

"Heavenly," Doc's face was red.

Larry sneered, and James pressed his smile.

'Heavenly' would not be the word that she would choose to describe Doc. He was a big man; his body was covered with tattoos and he had a beer stomach that started to show. Sookie smiled. "Well, Doc. I think I will call you 'Doc'. It suits you better,"

"Thank you, Ma'am."

Doc asked Sookie and James to change their clothes and to wash out the blood off their bodies. If the human attacked them, which Doc did not hope so, but if they did, no werewolves would be able to help them. The blood would be like a razor blade on their skins and if the it went inside their bodies, it could kill them. Hastily, they went to upstairs, changed their clothes and removed the blood from their bodies. It was not as clean as Doc wanted to, but it was clean enough for both Sookie and James. They did not see any stain on their bodies any more, how could Doc say that there were still some blood stains left?

The werewolves were restless as Sookie and the others were back again. As beings with very fine smell sensory, they were still able to catch the rest of Bill's blood on their body. However, it was not just that. The smell of her blood, mixed with Bill's blood seemed to bother them, the mix between the sweetness of the faery's blood and the poisonous silver, just like any other drug, one side pulled them to taste it and made them feel stronger and better, and on the same time, dragged them to a misery and probably death.

Alcide went towards her and told her that it would be better for everybody if she was not there. Her wound was too much for them, he said. If vampires came and attacked them, it would be difficult for him and his men to protect her.

"I am fine, Alcide. Eric is here,"

Those green eyes flickered. "Of course," but his head said. _You stink of him. _"I just want you to know, I will feel much better if I am sure that you are safe,"

"Thank you," Sookie said. Alcide was jealous with Eric. He must have figured out what happened back there in Aude's room. Eric did not seem to care if anybody knew that they had just made love. He even opened the door widely when Alcide knocked the door as if he wanted to show Alcide how the room looked like, messy with her clothes scattered around and the smirk he gave her as Alcide left them was clear. He enjoyed seeing Alcide act awkwardly. "You are evil," she told him. "Really?" Eric smiled. "He tried to steal my woman, what would you call that? Or are you still considering his proposal?" For a moment, Sookie did not understand what he meant, then she realized. "You were there when Alcide asked me to marry him," she sighed. She had not imagined smelling his perfume, he had been there, floating somewhere up in the sky. "You heard everything," His smile was wider. "That you love me, yes I did. The rest, I didn't pay attention so much. Otherwise, Alcide would be dead by now. Nobody takes what is mine and survives,"

"I know that you mean well," finally Sookie after she could push away what Eric had said, "I can take care of myself, don't you worry about that,"

Alcide nodded. "Just stay close to him," he said.

He did not have to say that. Sookie went to Eric, who unfortunately stood in front of the werewolves. James was standing beside him; the Hounders were some steps away from him. They had asked him to go with them, but he refused it. The sheriff might need him, he said.

Time went by and nothing happened. The waning moon on the west seemed so far away; the weak lights that it gave did not give them enough light so that they could see what was happening beyond the gate. Everybody was waiting. Sookie did not hear any single thoughts coming out of the werewolves or James. They were concentrating with what will come. Eric was also like a statue. Standing tall and ready, he looked more menacing than she had ever seen. His gaze was cold; his arms were bent and his hands were forming claws. Eric was ready to kill, just like any other men surround her.

Suddenly Sookie felt that Alcide's idea had not been bad at all. They were standing some yards away from the gate; any kind of danger, which would come, it would come directly to her and Eric. She would not be able to run or to fight back. She did not have anything in her hand. Why hadn't she come with the idea of carrying a gun or a knife? She sighed. This was a stupid idea.

The sound of cracking bones suddenly filled the surrounding. The werewolves were transforming. Sookie narrowed her eyes and tried to see what was going on out there, but she did not see anything. They must have seen or smelt something.

Bum! Out of nowhere, somebody was thrown to the gate. He got up, grabbed the gate and started pushing it, but the gate was such a gate, made of solid iron. That man was able to shake the gate, but nothing happened.

Alcide told his men to open the gate. Two of them ran and opened it. With one leap, that man was standing in front of Eric. Like Bill, blood ran down from every part of his body. His clothes were wet and sticky. André Paul. His face looked pale under the moonlight and he was shaking. If he had been able to breathe, he would have been out of breath by now.

"Eric, I need your help," he said. "Siegbert and Weybert are chasing me. They are sent to kill me,"

"It's against the highest law to kill a vampire," Eric said.

"Not if it's The Queen's decree," André fell on his knees.

Eric became quiet. His eyes were narrowing. Sookie could see that he was thinking hard. To help André meant to act against the Queen, but not to help him meant to give him to those bodyguards and it would be the death of André Paul.

"I can't fight them," André said. "Her order to me is clear. I may not harm them. She is my maker, Eric. I cannot do anything else. I beg you, Eric. She is not herself for there is no other explanation why she ordered Siegbert and Weybert to kill me,"

Eric helped André standing on his feet. "Go inside, I'll hold them,"

"Merçi, Eric," he said. "I owe you one," Then, he ran to the house.

"Don't do anything unless I say so." Eric said to the werewolves. "This matter is mine, I don't want any of you involve in this," Then, Eric asked James. "How is your German?"

James looked at him. "I don't speak German, Sheriff."

"Pity," he said. "Those two are more understandable when they speak German,"

For a moment Sookie did not understand what Eric meant until she heard what he said to the Hounders. "Colin, take him away, please. He is not needed here," Eric wanted him listen to what those bodyguards were thinking. Their English were heavily German accented; Sookie had no doubt if they were thinking in German.

James opened his mouth to protest and stared at Colin the way Sookie had seen back there in the storage room, but before he had a chance to say anything, a loud noise was heard. A car in a high speed was humping against the gate, trying to breakthrough.

Alcide's men moved quickly. Except Alcide, all of them transform into wolves. The Hounders, on the other hand, stayed in their human forms. They were standing next to each other, forming a circle with James in the middle of them. Those eyes were yellowish.

The car stopped humping. Everything was quiet. Now everybody could see that there were other cars behind the blue car. The Hounders took the chance to move further away with James, who was protesting. He wanted to stay, but they did not listen to him. Sookie heard Colin hissed, "Trust me, Little Brother,"

Eric said something in a foreign language, which Sookie believed to be German. His voice sounded harsh and angry. Was he angry, or was it the way the German language was spoken?

The door was opened. Two huge pale men came out. Alcide came to the gate and opened it.

Then, the three of them involved in a conversation, which nobody could understand. They could hear how harsh they spoke and the gestures that they were making could be easily interpreted as hostile gestures. Siegbert put his hands on his hips and whilst he was talking, his hand was raised and pointed at Eric's face. Weybert, on the other hand, stared at Eric. He crossed his hands; his jaw was clenched and most of the time he was quiet. When he said something; it was loud and roaring.

"Eric, Bitte," said Siegbert. "Wir bitten Euch, gebt uns André!"

Eric turned around. Then, he said in English. "André Paul is under my protection. I will bring him to Her Majesty myself."

"Ihr könnt das uns nicht antun!" Siegbert spread his arm. "Tut mir Leid, Eric. But we have our orders,"

"Then I am the one who is sorry, Siegbert," suddenly Eric grabbed her and with one leap they were landed inside the house. Sookie stood with her legs shaking.

"Stay here," he said. "No matter what happens, the vampires can not enter this house. Prepare yourself for the human companions."

"Human companions?"

"Yes, the ones who attacked Bill are definitely human. They are the only ones who can carry silver," then, he grinned. His eyes flickered with madness. He seemed to enjoy the night, as if he had been waiting for the moment for a long time. Was it because of the blood or the fight itself?

Eric kissed her passionately and then he left.

Sookie ran to her room, where she stored her guns and took the shotgun. She cursed herself for not having silver bullets with her. She had to ask Jason to make some for her. She grabbed a box of magazines and went down.

The house seemed so quiet. The kitchen, which had been always filled with people, was now empty. Its amber light was deeming at the corner, made the room somehow lonely. She needed to do something with it. Put more colour or flower or some...for crying out loud. Outside people might be fighting for their lives and she was thinking about decorating a kitchen! Sookie, Sookie!

A sound of bottle being opened made her cocking the gun. André; he was standing beside the stove, drinking True Blood. He turned around as he heard the sound of the gun. His face was clean now; obviously, he had washed his face.

Slowly Sookie stepped down. She did not lower her gun; she did not intend to. André Paul was one of those people (or vampires) whom she was never able to trust completely. Even in his vulnerable moments like now, he still looked dangerous to her. There was something in him that she could lay her hands on, she did not know what, and she just did not like what she felt when she was around him. She felt like she was standing on a grave. This man was cold and surrounded by walls.

"Low your gun, Sookie. Unless you intend to use it,"

"You're in my house, André. Don't tempt me to throw you out,"

He smiled. "Will you?"

"Why don't you try and find out," Sookie said.

"Are you afraid of me, Sookie?" he asked.

"Yes," Sookie said. _Moreover, I don't trust you._

André moved closer. "You and I have something in common, Sookie..." he said. "We have problems to solve. Probably your problems are connected to mine and probably not, but I believe they are,"

"How do you come with the idea?"

"Let's just say, I've lived long enough to know and to sense when something is going wrong. What is happening in Her Majesty's court is not normal, to say the least. She might have not loved me any more, but she would have never ordered any body to kill me. I would be gladly to die for her; and she is aware with that fact.

Something has changed her, Sookie. Something in her True Blood has clouded her judgement over me and over my decision how to run her palace. Bill and I had reached an agreement; to avoid any unwanted incidents between us – vampires and werewolves, we have to stop the killing among them. You must have known – or somebody might have informed you already, that some werewolves were turned into half-lifes. Have you ever checked their bodies or had a chance to ask any of them, whether they were bitten or attacked? Have you also asked them, when were they attacked or bitten?"

Sookie forced herself to remember. Simon had something about it, but she did not remember now. Had he been bitten or attacked? "What do you mean with 'attacked'?"

"Attacked...with weapons, and not being sucked dry. We don't like werewolves' blood, Sookie. I can assure you that. It tastes like the water from le grand ègout," The expression on his face showed clearly what he thought about the werewolf blood. He looked so disgusted by it that Sookie was afraid he might puke. "The half life that was killed by Eric at the palace was mine," he said.

"You turned Tom Rodney?"

"Was that his name?" André drank his True Blood. "I found him dying beside the river. He told me some bizarre stories about a factory, which produced True Blood somewhere in Shreveport area. He said that True Blood would be a weapon against the vampires and the werewolves, I should be very careful with its consumption. The less would be the better for me. As a gift, I gave him immortality,"

"But it didn't work the way it was supposed to be," Sookie said.

"No," André smiled. "I should have known. Some werewolves' blood is old; and the one I had was a very old one, it was able to fight mine," he stared at her. "We have to work together, Sookie. Otherwise we will have no chance against them,"

Sookie heard so many times the word 'them', but nobody could tell her exactly whom they meant. She looked through the window. She did not see or hear anything from the kitchen. Were they fighting now, or was Eric able to convince Siegbert and Weybert to leave the ground? Where was James? What were the Hounders doing to or with him now?

"You are thinking about your son, aren't you, Sookie?"

Sookie looked at André.

"You know what they will do if they find out who father is?"

Sookie's heart missed a beat. What did he mean by that? Did he know...from where? No, he did not know, he was just guessing.

Their eyes met. His pale grey eyes were calculating.

"He is a special boy," he said with a smile on his face. "I can sense it since the first time I saw him. I should have told you that, but I think you already know it. Every vampire can sense that he is not just a boy. You would need a stronger protection for your son, Sookie. Much more stronger than what Eric or the werewolves can offer,"

"I am listening," Sookie said.

"Marry me," he said. "Join me as my wife under the old rule, I guarantee you, nobody would dare to touch your son, not even His Majesty the king,"

"Well, that is not an everyday offer," Sookie said. "How can you be so sure that you will be able to protect me and my son, if you can't even protect yourself from your queen's wrath?"

"As soon as I can find the cure, Her Majesty will be herself again. She has the power to order you to marry me, just in case you didn't know. You work for her; you are – under the vampiric rules, her subject,"

"Tell me, André. Why are you so sure that I would not toss you to the werewolves, right now?"

"Because you know, you don't want to start a war between vampires and werewolves; after all, I am The Secretary of Queen of Louisiana. What do you think would happen, if the kings and the queens found out that I was killed by the werewolves who work for Sheriff Area 5?"

He was a slimy lying scum!

André was getting nearer. His hand was reaching out, when a weak voice filled the room. "I would not touch her, if I were you,"

Sitting on the floor with blood all over his body, Bill Compton looked like a shadow of his old self. He held the doorframe, as if he wanted to make sure that he would not fell down. "Eric would not be pleased if somebody touched his woman. If he was offended, you would not have to worry about the werewolves any more because he would make sure that you'd never forget what you have done. Then you would know what the word 'problem' means,"

Sookie looked at Bill with gratitude. He must have heard the conversation. He must have crawled on the floor, dragging himself to reach the place where he was now and stopped what André was about to do.

The smile did not leave André's face. "Your concern on me is very noble, Bill, as always," he moved away from her and then he said, "Consider what I said, Sookie. It is the best that can happen to your son because if I want to, I can just take you, here and now. I am not sure if Eric would like to keep you, if you became a vampire. Besides, there is only a vampire woman in his life and she would not let you take her place,"

Sookie held her gun tightly, so tight that her fingers hurt. She kept on telling herself to remember who André Paul was. He was the Queen's secretary. He may not be harmed. Otherwise, she would have blown his head off already! And seeing that cold grey eyes, Sookie was certain, André might do what he had just said. This place was not safe any more; she had to leave. Slowly Sookie walked down. Her gun was high and aimed at André's head. "Are you all right, Bill?"

"I've been better, Sookie, but I'll be all right,"

Sookie was walking to the door. She could not see Bill, she hoped Bill was not as bad as his voice, which sounded weak and trembling.

"You are not leaving us, are you, Sookie?" asked André.

Sookie opened the door. "Yes, I am," she said. As André was moving, she said. "One step, André and you are out of this house, forever. You can bet your life on it," she went out and closed the door.

The hot wind of July touched her face, but Sookie was shaking. Even if André did not say it, he had told her his intention clearly. He wanted James and he would do whatever it took to get what he wanted; even when it meant to turn her into a vampire and faced Eric. Had he known what James was able to? Had he known about Eric? Her breath was short and her chest was painful. James. She had to find James.

She felt her cheek hot as she was running to the darkness. There was no time for crying now, but as if they had the will of their own; her eyes were wet and burning.

******

"We have to know what kind of situation we are dealing with, James," Colin said. "Staying here would not help us at all,"

Slowly they moved backwards. The Long Tooth were transforming. The sound of their bones cracking made James' skin crawl.

"Follow me," Doc said. "I know the way,"

James wanted to stay there, but the voice inside Papa's head told him to leave. He would be more useful somewhere else, Papa said. Siegbert and Weybert spoke only German in his head, possibly even an ancient one.

Doc had found a way to leave without being noticed. It was a small hole at the corner of the ground, which was covered by leaves. He said, that was where he had seen the fox. Victoria's face flashed in front of his eyes. He wondered where she was right now, if she was in his room or somewhere down town, in her own room, alone, he hoped. James rubbed his nose. The idea that Victoria might be with somebody else – a man, made him dizzy. He did not like it. If Victoria had to be with somebody, then it had to be him and nobody else.

Cooper patted his shoulder. "Come, Little Brother," he said. "There is a place and a time for everything," he said, as if he understood what he was thinking.

"How do you know what I was thinking, Coop?" he finally asked.

"We – werewolves have fine noses to sense what the body produces, Little Brother. Yours is producing what we call 'passion glands'. If you continue producing that, every female Hounders will jump on you,"

"Really? How to stop that?" He did not want that. He wanted only Victoria.

"Just stop nuzzling, whimpering and sighing," said Cooper. "It would stop on its own. And stop thinking about Luna. She will come to you, believe me. She doesn't want to anger your mother for the moment. I believe she has already enough problem of her own; she would not want to deal with your mother too,"

Yeah, Mom was very angry seeing him and Victoria rolling in the bushes. He had been worried when he kissed Victoria behind Mom's back that she would have turned around and scolded at him in front of Victoria, but thank God, she had not. Victoria had such soft lips, a warm wet tongue, smooth skin like silk, and two round firm ass he loved to squeeze. He wondered how it felt to touch her breasts...they were beautiful...he sighed....so beautiful...two hands full of joy...

"Stop that, will you?" Larry said. "You make me nervous,"

Colin patted his shoulder. "You have a lot to learn, young man. A lot to learn. She is a fox, she will come to you at her own will. If she doesn't come to you, we will make her come. Trust this old wolf, and now concentrate on the problem that we are dealing at the moment!"

"Yes, Colin,"

Colin pulled him into his arm and messed his hair. "That's better!"

The Hounders took off their clothes and shoes; and asked James to take them with him. They transformed themselves into wolves and went inside the hole. James was the last one and frankly, the hole was too small for him. No wonder that The Hounders had transformed themselves. As he was crawling out of the hole, a strong hand pulled him out.

"Ssstt," Doc put the finger on his lips.

James looked around. There was nothing, but darkness. The light of the waning moon was not strong enough to light the ground. He took out the clothes and the shoes from the hole one by one. After putting their clothes on, they continued moving, crawling on the wet ground among the tree. But suddenly, the Hounders stopped. Cooper jumped on his feet and stretched out his hands ready to blow. Behind them, there was a man standing, clad in green. His pale blond hair glowed in the darkness. He had pointed ears. A faery.

"Keeper of The Nish' Secret," that man bowed.

"You," Cooper said.

"I am called Prescott," he said.

"What do you want?" Cooper asked, whilst Doc and Colin looked at each other; and maybe it was only James' eyes, but why were they smiling?

"I was returning to my house, when I saw the cars passing by the woods. I sensed the Undeads and human at the same time. It is not usual to see them together, especially when the human covered themselves with silver. I wanted to continue doing my own business, but then I saw them shooting at two Undeads. One of them tried to hold the vampires with their human companions; the other one was running to this direction," the faery moved closer to Cooper. "I thought, I might make myself useful and warn you about them, but it seems you already knew,"

"Thank you," Cooper bowed a little.

"You won't be able to fight them in your wolf-shape," he said; but then his eyes met James. "But you can distract their dogs,"

"I beg your pardon?" asked James. "Distract their dogs...? How?"

"All dogs came from wolves, and you are one among the oldest. Come with me, I'll show you how,"

James looked at Colin. He was not sure about it. He did not know anything about this faery. The last time he had met faeries, they tried to attack him.

"Go," Colin said. "Cooper, you go with them,"

"No, he stays," said Prescott. "The dogs will be able to smell you,"

"He will not go alone, I promised his mother," said Cooper.

The faery took something off his neck. A necklace with two round pendant. "Kiss my necklace and call my name when you need me," he said. "I'll come," he took James' hand and with a blink of an eye, they were leaving the spot.

The journey was better than what James expected. They sprung from one branches to another like a squirrel. Then, they stopped. Under them, on the street there were six cars. Around the cars were around twenty men dressed up in some kind of silver overall. They even had helmets on. All of them carried guns and now their guns were being pointed at Papa and the others. Papa was already involved in a fight with two vampires. They were moving so fast, that James could not follow with his eyes. Only their mind he still could hear. Two voices in a foreign language – German, possibly; and Papa's in Old Norse. Jeez, Papa could really curse and swear when he wanted to. The men in silver suit were standing on guard; their dogs were sitting beside them, snarling. The dogs smelt their presence. They had to get out of there.

As if Prescott knew what he was thinking, he grabbed James' hip and jumped to another branch. Then, still with his hand on James' hip, he jumped down.

"There are...there are so many men out there," James said.

"And those men have silver with them, which can harm the werewolves and vampires,"

"What shall I do?"

"Call the dogs,"

"How?"

"Think about dogs, wolves,"

"Foxes?" Victoria's face flashed in front of his eyes. Her green eyes...black hair....long soft neck...her lips...

"Foxes are not wolves. You have no power upon them. Yes, they are drawn to you, but they will not obey you. They might fear you, or love you, but it is only because they give themselves to you willingly and freely,"

James felt his heart light. Victoria liked him not because of his wolf blood! He did not know why she liked him, but at least now he knew that when she kissed him it was not because he wanted her to – well, he wanted her to, true, but not because he ordered her to. He smiled. Victoria, the next time they met, it would be a better time for him. He was going to find out why she liked him. If she said it was because of his wolf blood, he could tell her that she was lying.

"Sookie's son..." the faery's voice pulled him out of his thought. "Whatever you are thinking about right now, be haste with it!"

"Sorry," James murmured. Okay, dogs...dogs...James closed his eyes....the collie...the one which followed him around when he had been staying at the old house and sometimes accompanied him walking around in the forest. Dean, that was how Mom called him. Yes, Dean. He liked that dog, he wondered where he was now. "Dean....come here, boy...." he whispered. "Come here..."

Then he waited. He heard people yelling, calling 'come back here, boy!', barking, noises rustling...but he kept his eyes close. Suddenly he felt something soft rubbing his legs, and there were whimpering sounds. He opened his eyes. Around him were dogs...Doberman...some were sitting, two of them rubbed their bodies against his legs, the rest were standing, looking at him. Their mouths were opened and their tongues were stuck out.

"Easy..." he said, more to himself than to the dogs.

"Don't be nervous," the faery said. He was sitting on the branch.

"Easy for you to say!" James said.

"They can feel you," he said. "You have to relax. Imagine you were surrounded by your brothers,"

"What the fuck?!" two men in silver suit were suddenly standing in front of James and the dogs. They cocked their guns and wanted to shoot James, when a fast wind hit their heads; but it was too late, one of the men had pulled the trigger already. The sound of the gun blasted as the men fell. Stone dead. Prescott had cracked their helmets open and his hits went straight to their skulls.

The dogs were barking. For a moment James thought that he lost his control over them, but then he realized, the Hounders were standing not so far from him. "Easy, boys. Easy," he said with a firmer voice than before. "They are my brothers," he said to the dogs. "Your brothers,"

Doc spat. He did not seem to appreciate hearing what James had said. "They will never be my brothers,"

The dogs stood and looked at James as if they were waiting for his order. The Hounders looked at him with fear that they had never known before. Colin sniffed. What Alcide said was correct. Despite the fact that James Stackhouse was still very young, he had power over dogs. What happened if he grew older, would he turn all werewolves into dogs? He should have listened to Alcide more carefully and not taken his story as a sign of cowardice. Cooper closed his eyes and sighed. _Bless all spirit that ever walked on this earth. For I, Matt Cooper will serve the son of the first táhsah until the wind of the Great Plain calls me. Ayanat Caddi be my witness, or my blood shall be spilled. _Doc felt cold sweat rolling down on his back. That son of a bitch had turned him into a puppy back there in the storage room, if he could control him and the dogs, what else he could control?

"Any of you can use this?" the faery's voice broke the spell. The Hounders looked at him who was holding one of the guns. Its silver handle was glimmering under the moon.

"No," Colin said. "They covered their guns with silver too. What about you, James? Can you handle the gun?"

"Yes," James said. "But what about the dogs? What should I do with them?"

Colin smiled. "Let their masters taste their own medicine,"

The night went ugly. The men in silver suits started firing the werewolves, who were not able to do anything but to avoid the shot line. The bullets that went through their body, unlike the normal bullets, pierced their flesh and opened their body. Normally, the bullets would have wounded them, but the flesh closed in and stopped them from bleeding; but not this time. The silver bullet and its silver powder prevented their flesh from regrowing and poisoned their blood at the same time. Eric and the vampires continued fighting and seemed not being bothered by the sound of the blasting guns and of the werewolves' screams.

From a high tree branch, Prescott used sticks as boomerangs and hit the guns. The Hounders followed his examples attacked the men in silver with branches and small pieces of wood they could find. The dogs, following James' instruction, ran and attacked the men in silver and torn apart their suits. "Shoot the boy with the dogs!" James heard somebody yelling many times, but as soon as the gun was aimed at him, a stick flew and hit the holders of the guns. James stood still under a tree, watching the dogs moved and did whatever his mind was telling them. Somehow, it was cool, he smiled. If he was able to do that to the dogs, he wondered whether he was able to do the same thing to the werewolves or not. Papa said, he could, but he wanted to find out.

The Long Tooth members, seeing what The Hounders did, ran under the gunfire, look for pieces of wood, stick or any kind of thing that they could grab and started throwing them at the men in silver suits. "Retreat!! Retreat!!" somebody screamed; and the men in silver suits were like the grass eating animals in the prairie, surrounded by packs of wolves. Any direction they took, they were stopped either by the dogs or by the wolves. The night, which was started by a gunshot, was ended by a scream.

Eric had defeated the two vampires. His clothes were torn apart, but there were no traces of wounds or scratches. His rivals were lying on the ground. Their appearances were similar like Eric, but everybody could see that they suffered a lot.

"Return to Baton Rouge, Siegbert," Eric said. "I promise to deliver André Paul myself,"

"It won't be pretty, Eric. Her Majesty would not be amazed,"

"I know," Eric said. "Now, leave, before I change my mind,"

The two vampires stood on their feet, shaking. Then, they went to one of the cars and left the ground.

Alcide threw one of the men in silver who was still alive in front of Eric. "He can't tell us anything," he said. "It was an order from his boss, he said, but he doesn't know who his boss is,"

"Then he is useless," said Eric. His fangs were out.

"What are you doing..." that man moved away from Eric, but it was too late. The last thing he ever saw was a face with a pair of piercing cold blue eyes came near; he heard the sound of a hiss, and that was it. In the warm night in the middle of Summer, under the waning moon, a man whose name was unbeknownst, was sucked dry by Sheriff of Area 5.

James watched how Papa finished three men, two of which begged for mercy. He knew that his father was a vampire; and as a vampire, he drank human blood, but seeing him killing his prey like a child sucking a lollipop turned his blood cold. Goose bumps were all over his skin. In his mind, Papa said nothing. Inside, he was as cold as his face. Those men, the ones he had sucked, meant nothing for Papa. No word of mercy, not even a comment of how the blood tasted. His heart sank. His father was a cold heartless murder.

As if they understood his feeling, the dogs started howling.

The werewolves turned around to see the source of the sounds. As wolves, they understood the meaning of the howl. It was the song of sadness and anguish; and they saw, in the middle of the circle of dogs, James Stackhouse standing with tears running on his face.

In the next scene, which was blurred by tears, James saw his father went towards his mother who was standing speechless. He bowed to her, whispered something in her ears. James was not able to hear what his father was whispering, but in his mind, he was speaking, directed at him. His voice sounded cold and merciless. _You are a son of a vampire. Deal with it. _

******************


	27. Of Love and Circumstances

**Author's Note: To Net: If you should go away...my days will only become yester days...  
**

Twenty-Six

**Of Love and Circumstances  
**

Sookie looked at him over the coffee cup. His hands, which were holding a cup, were shaking. He was having his warm milk and a plate of cookies.

The werewolves were busy outside, cleaning up the rest of the fight. The bodies were being buried, the wounded dogs were shot – much to James' protest, and the werewolves who were shot were being taken care of. Pam had come some time ago and took Bill with her. Bill was able to walk to drag himself to the guest's bathroom and cleaned up himself. André and Eric were nowhere to be found.

Somehow, Sookie preferred that way. She did not know if she could put herself under control if Eric or André had been here. She had seen how James sobbed in the middle of ten or even more Doberman. Nobody had been able to come close to him because every time somebody tried to talk to him, the dogs stood and bared their teeth. She herself had to stand some paces away from the dog and tried to talk to him. Somehow, she understood what James felt to see Eric sucking people dry and afterwards treated them like an empty tin can. It must have been a great shock for him to see Eric's real nature. Eric was a vampire, he had never said otherwise. He never hid his intention or acted under false pretenses that he had been a human. He was a cold heartless vampire, who killed human to survive. As much as she wanted him to be different, she could not change the fact that Eric was not human. Somehow, she believed that James had thought Eric as somebody else and he had been shocked to see Eric in a complete different picture that he had ever imagined.

After for a while, the dogs moved away from James and they sat on the ground. They put their heads on their front paws and like puppies; their eyes were soft. James himself came into her arms and continued crying there.

Now, sitting at the kitchen table with puffy eyes, James looked calm. Perhaps the warm milk or the vanilla cookies had something to do with it.

"After you finish with your milk, maybe you'd better sleep, James," Sookie said. "We talk tomorrow,"

"Where is Papa?" he asked, ignoring her sentence.

"I don't know. He said he had to go. Probably with André,"

"I don't like him," he said.

"That makes the two of us," Sookie tried to smile. If she could, she would take André's heart with bare hands. "Are you okay?"

James shook his head. "Are you?"

"No," Sookie sighed.

"Have you ever seen Papa doing it?"

"No. It was my first time too," she said and to be honest, she did not want to witness it again.

"He is a murder,"

"He is a vampire,"

"Still, he could show some mercy,"

Vampires and mercy were never spoken in the same line and should never be either; otherwise, the human part would have made a huge mistake. Nevertheless, Sookie did not have a heart to say that. "He loves you," Sookie said. "He gives mercy only to the people he loves,"

"How many people would it be? Three?" he lifted his eyebrow.

"Five," Sookie smiled. "Maybe even six,"

"Wow, that's a lot," his voice sounded very cynical when he continued, "I hope it would not be too much to bear for him,"

"You are angry with him,"

"Of course I am angry with him!" he raised his voice. The dogs, which were sitting on the ground were standing and started growling. The werewolves snarled at them. "Who could guarantee that he would not do the same to me?!"

"You could and you know it," Sookie looked at him straight into the eyes. "Never ever doubt that. You mean a lot to him, much more than he possibly is going to admit,"

"Did he tell you that?"

"No,"

"Then how do you know? You can't read his mind; you don't know what he thinks!"

"He cried after you left. After he said that he loved you,"

He stopped munching his cookies. "He cried?"

Sookie had seen Eric crying twice. Once when they had made love for the first time, when Eric had poured his heart out in front of her, how terrified he had been, thinking, knowing that he was losing Aude; and the second time, tonight, when James had told him that he loved him.

"Yes, he cried, James. He has a heart too, you know. He might not show it or admit it, but yes, he has a heart,"

"It's just..." he wiped off the tears that fell on his cheek. "I feel...like...it's just wrong...they are people!"

Had Godric skipped that part when he told James about the vampire's way of life? Sookie put down her cup and went to James. Softly, she hugged him. James held her waist and put his face on her stomach. She knew somebody else who did the same thing when he was confused and sad. Sookie wondered where he was right now and she wondered whether he could sense his son's feeling or not. Softly she stroked James' hair.

"Excuse me..." somebody cleared his throat. Alcide. He was standing at the door. His clothes were tainted with blood, but Sookie did not see any wounds. "We are going to take the cars away...I just wonder, what should we do with the dogs?"

James released his hug, wiped off his tears and said, "What do you mean?"

Alcide looked at him, his eyes were soft when he said, "We can't keep them all, James," he came to him. "I know it's a rough night for you, but they are your dogs now, you have to make the call," he knelt down in front of him. His big hairy hand touched James' cheek. _At least you still have your heart, _he said in his head. "I think your Momma will let you keep one, am I right, Sookie?"

Sookie nodded. If it would make him feel better, then yes.

"Are you going to kill them?"

"No, we will give them to some pet shops. I know some owners on the Robards Street, they are very good friends of mine. You don't have to worry about the dogs; my friends will take good care of them." Alcide looked at him gently. "Hey listen, Eric had to do what he had to do, you know. If those men escaped from here, they would be able to tell their bosses what was going on. Besides, if Eric had not killed them, I would, Colin would or any other men would,"

"I don't cry for him..."

Alcide smiled. "I know, you cried for his victims,"

"I feel embarrassed,"

"Hey what are you talking about? Do you think big men like me don't cry from time to time?" his brilliant smile was wider. "It's not a crime or a sign of weakness to cry, James. So," Alcide rose slowly. "You could either be angry with him, waste your time with blaming him, or you could ask him the reason he did it. I believe, he would give the same answer. Those men came here to kill, James. It's either them or us,"

James sniffed. "Still, it doesn't make me feel better,"

"Killing never makes anybody feel better and it should never be because we are still human. We know what we do is wrong, that's why somewhere deep in our hearts, we regret it,"

"Do you think Eric regrets it?"

Alcide smiled. "What do you think? Do you think he is a monster or something?"

"He's a killer,"

"He's a vampire, James. He lives to kill, but I can tell you something, he did not kill anybody for fun. He killed them because they crossed over his territory, something that would be done by any werewolves too. That's why I am always careful with him," he looked at Sookie. _Except about you. I'll cross his territory, if I have to._

James took a deep breath.

"Come on, choose the dog, let us get on with it,"

James smiled. "Thanks, Alcide."

Alcide messed up his hair and winked.

Sookie mouthed 'thank you' at him. Alcide smiled and said, "I think the boys want to have some coffee, if you don't mind making it for us, Sookie,"

"Yeah, of course,"

James chose a huge Doberman, which stood tall and proud. His colour was black and tan with a blue navy shade. His ears were standing and his tail was docked. His eyes were blue green.

"A blue Doberman," Larry whistled. "You surely have a taste, Little Brother," he said. "What are you gonna call him?"

James caressed his neck. "Duke," he said. "He looks like a prince, doesn't he?" The dog licked his face. "Yeah, sure you are. You are a prince, my prince,"

Late in the night, when James was asleep, Sookie went to his room only to make sure that everything was okay with him. He slept in his boxer only and covered his face with one of his t-shirts; a t-shirt that he loved so much that he did not allow her or anybody else to touch it. Sookie sighed. If he was sleeping like that, he looked so peaceful. Sookie knew, inside his heart, James had a lot of questions. She knew tonight had been a shocking night for him, as it had been for her. Seeing somebody that they loved do the killing like a machine crushed a piece of wood or metal was not an easy scene. She just hoped that James' love for Eric would be big enough to see Eric's deed in a different way. Something that she herself still had to learn, and she must confess it was not easy.

******

Grace Stones opened the parchment carefully. "Oh, this is a jewel, Sookie," she said. "This is a very old drawing; it is at least 100 years old. From where did you get this?"

"A friend," Sookie said. "It is a family treasure, but he's dead now. Somebody told me that his family was closed to...what was his name again?"

"Richardson, you mean?"

"Yeah, that one." _Perhaps. _Sookie looked at her. "You said you had something you wanted to show me, Grace?"

"Oh, yes," she said. "As I looked at the drawing, something bothered me. That building looked familiar to me. Of course, there are not so many Romanesque buildings after all. Then I remember, we took care of a case, in which we had difficulties to find the real owner of this building because it was old and it had many different owners already,"

"Well, many of our cases are..."

"But this one is different because it concerned..." her voice was low and sounded like choking. "The Queen..."

Sookie sat down. "What are you saying, Grace? There are many buildings that belong to the Queen,"

Nobody knew how old Queen Sophie-Anne Leclreq, what they knew, she owned a lot of properties in Louisiana. Before the Great Revelation, like other vampires, she had to live under different names through the centuries. During those times, she must have a lot of human companions or business partners whose names had been written on the property. Unfortunately, many of them married, had children and passed the properties to their next of kin. It became complicated when their next of kin sold the property to the third parties. The third parties sold it to the fourth parties and on and on. When the case landed on Sookies' desk, the problems she saw on the surface was mostly only a tip of an iceberg.

"Yes, but there are only a few, which were built around the end of 19th century or the beginning of 20th century," Grace said. "And it's getting less if we look for them in Louisiana," she smiled. She went inside her bedroom and back with a book. Its title said; _Romanesque Style in Louisiana: A Perspective._ She opened the book, flipped the pages and showed a page with a picture of a building on it. On the caption it was standing:

_Leclreq's Clinic: Health and Beauty. A jewel, which was hidden very well in the busy industrial area of Shreveport, bears the unmistakable signs of Romanesque style. The building, which was standing on Raspberry Lane 6573 …._

Raspberry Lane 6573.... That address was familiar to Sookie. Moment...she closed her eyes...Jesus! Leclreq Wellness Centre... That was the old name of that building, where Aude had spent the last days of her life.

"Sookie, are you all right? You look pale. Moment, I get you something to drink," she took a glass, filled it with water and gave it to her.

"Thank you," Sookie said. She drank the water. "You are sure that it is the building?"

"Yes," Grace said. "I went to an old of mine, who was an architect, and he draw the building based on the blue print that you gave me. We were certain that it is a Romanesque building. From there, we tried to find out about the year, the location and the owner. I could not believe when I read the name of the building, but it is. It belongs to the Queen,"

"But you said it was some kind of factory building,"

"Yes, it was. They might have changed the outer part of the building or built new building surround it, but I swear, it is Leclreq's building. This is the drawing from my friend. When you go to Leclreq Wellness Centre, please pay attention to everything. The building has to have long narrow naves, massive thick walls, round arches and small windows. Most importantly are the arches. The height of the apex of the roof tends to be closer to the height of the walls, producing flatter roof line,"

"I don't understand," Sookie said.

"Apex is the pointed end of something. In this case, the pointed end of a door frame, roof, anything which is a part of a building. A door frame with Romanesque style will have a flat half circle top and pay attention to the Grotesque,"

"The what?"

"The Grotesque: the carved stone figures, the murals or ornament arrangements that are attached to the walls. You will see that they are set out in a symmetrical pattern. They could be animal figures, leaves or faces,"

"I thought grotesque meant ugly,"

Grace laughed. "No, dear. Not in architecture, although I have to admit, some of them are ugly,"

As Sookie drove home, her mind was full with question of how to deliver this news to Eric. His wife had died there, and now the place was being used for producing True Blood? What had happened to that place? After she had left Bon Temps, she did not pay attention or want to know anything about the town. It had been a childish behaviour, she realized it now, but at that time, it had been the only way to go on living.

Lafayette Café, as always, was busy. No empty seats left. James, Cooper and Prescott were running around taking orders and serving the customers. They had accompanied her to go to Grace's place, but on the way, she had decided that they should stay at Lafayette's. Grace did not like meeting new people so much, especially not the ones with pointed ears.

Sookie wondered why Prescott had come and helped them, not that she objected it. It was just strange to know that the unfriendly faery had changed his mind 180 degree. Was it Niall's order? "No," the faery said and no other answer.

"Is there something going on between Coop and Prescott?" Lafayette asked her as she drank her coffee.

"Why?"

Lafayette gave a sign with his head. Sookie followed it and saw Prescott cutting vegetables with eyes on Cooper. That was the reason, definitely. Prescott was smitten. Love at first sigh, she guessed, a rough love at first sigh, after all the hitting, cursing and almost biting.

"I don't know if Cooper is gay or not," Sookie said. In fact, she did not know anything about Cooper. "But yeah, they had a history together," she told Lafayette what had happened in the woods.

Lafayette snorted. "I would not touch a man who just molested me, if you ask me. Cooper looked like a man who could break you in two, not that I don't want to try him, but still, if I want to keep my ass together, I would be very careful, if I was Prescott. And Jim? What happened to him? If he continues running around with that face, he will chase away my customers,"

Sookie told him about last night, as James and she herself had witnessed Eric's action in a combat and Victoria Luna. She believed James had fallen in love.

"First love," he sighed. "Is the most beautiful thing in the world. The feelings, the uncontrollable lust, the needs...oh..."

Sookie knew those feelings too, but, "She is too old for him. If only she was sixteen or seventeen, I would not make a fuss out of it. She is almost twice older than he is. Whatever relationship that might come, it would not be a healthy relationship, not to mention that it's against the law,"

Lafayette sighed. "It will be a very hard experience for him," he said. "Maybe it's not a bad idea after all, if he goes to Dallas, you know, to have a new perspective, to be in a new town, with new people,"

Perhaps, it would be better that way.

Sookie looked at James, who was taking order from a woman. He was smiling, but Sookie could see that his mind was not there. He looked lost.

On the way back home, the sun was low on the West. The red light was quickly replaced by black cloud and the darkness crept over the Bon Temps Wood. Eric had not called since last night. He said he had to go, that was it. Sookie wondered where he was and wherever he was, she hoped he would find good excuses or explanation for James when he returned later. Otherwise, she did not see good future for both of them and Eric could not expect James to do anything that he wanted if James lost his respect for him.

******

That night, as Bill Compton ran for his life in the direction of Northman Mansion, Sam Merlotte was checking the number on the door of an apartment in Baton Rouge. He had checked the number twice, but he wanted to be sure that the number was 23, just like on the paper.

Colin Purefoy had told the truth. The twins were good helpers. Chad only had to turn around, put his index finger on the air or saw the lights at the sky, and he knew which direction to go. Al had read the file and without any hesitation, he could answer any question Sam could come up. Al would even tell him which page number he should open to find the answer of his questions.

Sam wanted to knock on the door when he saw that the door was already open. He drew his gun. Behind him, he heard the sound of bones, cracking. The twins were transforming. "Don't do that," he said without turning. "People will get panicked if they see two wolves running around in this building,"

The cracking sound stopped.

Somehow, Sam admired the discipline that the twins had. Colin must have told them to listen to his order and both of them followed without any complain. Carefully, he pushed the door. The apartment was dark; a strong odour reached his nose. Something rotten was inside the apartment. Maybe he should shift himself into a fly and go inside.

"Nobody is inside," said Chad.

Damn wolves! They had better nose than any shifters. He could smell some scents and follow the source, but not when one smell was dominant than others, like now. For the wolves, they could tell the different kind of odour like Lafayette could tell the different kind of colours or shoes.

Sam opened the door wider. Al went inside to turn on the lights.

Somebody had been there before them. From what it looked like, somebody had turned the living room upside down to look for something. Paper was everywhere, the table was kicked, the sofa was turned upside down, the commode's drawers were opened and there were holes on the wall.

Chad went to the other room. "The same situation here," he said. "And the window is broken. Somebody must have jumped out from this building,"

"Somebody wants to have something, urgently," Al said.

"Somebody is living here," Sam said. "This is not Rodney's apartment," he looked around. "If he had been turned a year ago, and he stayed at the palace since, this apartment should have been empty or rented to somebody else,"

"But the name beside the door is Rodney,"

Chad popped up from the other room. "Let's clean up and find out the source of this smell," he said.

"I think we should call the police," Sam said. "If something happened here, they couldn't blame us,"

"And what are you going to say to them? We are friends of Rodney's, a person who might have not been around in human world for...let me think, a year?" Al scratched his non-existing beard. "And what you would say if they found out that Rodney did not know us?"

"And the fact that he was half vampire half werewolf," continued Chad.

"Or the possibility that this is not Rodney's apartment?"

"The fact that we don't know how Rodney looked like?" Chad looked at his twin brother. "Perhaps Al remembers, but I don't,"

"Or..."

"All right, all right. Jesus! I like you better when you are quiet," Sam said. "Are you always like that, finishing the other's thought?"

Both of them nodded.

"Sometimes Al started..." said Chad.

"And Chad finished it," said Al.

"Just like that," both of them said.

"Creepy....ah,ah!" Sam gave a sign that he did not want to hear any explanation when Al started to open his mouth. "I don't want to hear anything, now get to work, if both of you want to get this apartment cleaned,"

The twins did what Sam told, which made Sam grinned. Those boys must have been in their twenties. In other packs, they would not even be considered as delta wolf yet. Delta wolves were the werewolves, which more or less like the third men in command. They had already authority in the packs but not as big as the beta or the alpha wolves. They were more like a straw boss or foreman with smaller unit of werewolves to control. However, since The Grey Hounder did not have so many members, most of their young ones were given responsibility since they were very young. In these twins case, they were even already on the position beta wolves, those who were chosen to replace Colin Purefoy, in case Colin died or unable to perform his duty as the leader of the clan, and they were not even 25 years old!

They stapled the paper together, put the garbage in plastic bags, opened the window so that fresh air went in and finally found the source of the awful smell. It came from old food rest, old clothes and some rotten stuff, which they could not tell what they might have been. Somebody must have given a good fight in that place because they also found broken chairs, books and bullets on the wall. Chad called Sam to show him a black stained on the floor in the bedroom. "What do you think?" he asked.

"I am not sure," said Sam. "The blood is too old, two or maybe even three months old. Al, get me a knife, will you?!"

"What do you have in mind?"

"I can try to get it off the floor and take it to a lab for further investigation,"

"Good idea,"

Al entered the bedroom with a knife. "Wow!" he said when he saw the bedroom. "This guy had really problems," he said. He gave Sam the knife and then he followed the blood drops. He stopped beside the window. "He got hit,"

"How do you know?"

"There is blood on the window frame, a lot of it," He opened the window. "He must have been a werewolf or a shifter,"

Chad and Sam looked at him. "What did you say?"

"Look, we are on third floor now. If he was a human, he would not survive the jump. But if he was a werewolf or a shifter, he could fly or he could land on his feet, no sweat. I can prove it to you if you want,"

"Don't even think about it," said Sam. Al's theory could be correct, still he did not want to have the risk that he was injured or somebody saw the transformation. He scrapped the blood and put it in a small plastic bag. Carefully, he put the bag inside his pocket.

"Then, this is Rodney's apartment,"Chad said. "But if this blood was three months old, it couldn't be his. He had been turned a year ago, right?"

Al looked at Sam. "Do you think the vampires told us the truth?"

"Why would they lie?"

"We don't know how it is in their community, but I can imagine that they do not always tell the truth," said Al. "Look, that vampire-boy doesn't like us, the feeling is mutual if you ask me. Anyway, he is the right-hand man of the queen. Perhaps, it is not enough to be a right-hand man only, perhaps he wants to be the king of his kind,"

"As far as I know about vampires, a vampire-child will follow any order from his maker and that vampire-boy was the Queen's child. He would not be able to do anything against her,"

"Perhaps he used other hands to do what he wants,"

Yeah, it could be. But how?

"The question is," Chad stood up. "Did they give us the right information on Rodney? Was it really Rodney or somebody else?"

"Are you saying that Bill Compton lied to Eric?"

Chad scratched his non-existing beard, just like what his twin brother did. "Hmh...let me think, Compton doesn't know who the maker was..."

"Nor the real Rodney..." Al continued.

"Little Brother doesn't know the real Rodney either..."

"Assuming that he wasn't Rodney..."

"We don't know from where Compton got the information that he was Rodney..."

"I got it," Sam stopped them. The twins could be right. But if the one who got injured was not Rodney, then who was he? He decided to call Colin. Colin had to know what they had found as soon as possible. If the one that Sookie and James had seen at the palace was not Tom Rodney, and yet, Bill and André Paul told them that he was, then the vampires had lied to them. If they were capable of lying on such important matters – perhaps not that important for the vampires, but it was for the werewolves, they definitely were capable of lying on something else.

Sookie and James were in danger.

Sam knew that Eric would be able to protect them, but Paul was an important figure in Louisiana Vampire Kingdom. Would Eric be able to disobey his queen's order? What if they found out who James really was? Would they consider him as a miracle or as plague?

"Come on, Colin. Pick it up!"

Nobody answered. Where the hell was Colin?

Sam decided to call the house.

"Eric Northman residence," a new voice was on the other line.

He was going to say that he wanted to speak with Colin when his instinct told him not to. He did not know who was on the other end of the line. "Miss Sookie Stackhouse, please," he said.

"Miss Stackhouse is not available for the moment. Would you like to leave some messages? And with whom am I speaking to?"

No, he could not give the message away. It could be any body, it could even one of the vampires. He heard Bill Compton speaking once. He sounded like one of those characters in 'Gone with the Wind' movie. But this one sounded as if he was a member of Long Tooth pack. There was a soft nasal in his voice. Only people who spoke French had that kind of pronunciation, but then, he knew everybody from Long Tooth. His voice did not sound familiar to him. Then who was on the other end?

"Hallo?"

Sam closed the line. Whoever he was, he definitely spoke French. His 'H' was too soft almost unspoken. He never met André Paul...could it be? "Say Al," he said. "You speak French, eh?"

Al shook his hand. "O la la," he said.

"How does André Paul sound?"

"He speaks French, definitely," said Al. "His English is almost free from accent in my ears, though, but Colin said he did. Why?"

"He just answered the phone at Sookie's place,"

The twins looked at him. "What is going on down there?"

Sam shook his head. "I don't know. Let's make our work here ready and return to Bon Temps,"

"What the fuck?!"

A voice suddenly filled up the room. Before Sam was able to say anything, Chad had already transformed, jumped behind him and landed on the new person. A sound of a broken glass was in the air and the smell of wine reached his nose.

Sam turned around and saw a big grey wolf on the body of a man. Now he knew why a young man like Chad was chosen to be a beta wolf. He was not only big, but also fast and his instinct was damn good!

Instead of being afraid, the man on the floor laughed, mockingly. "Grey Hounder, what are you doing here, Brother?" His canine teeth were big and yellowish. Red hair covered the hands that were on the floor. He gave Chad his throat as a symbol that he would not fight back. A gesture of surrender that was normally given by a weaker wolf. Like a real alpha wolf, Chad growled, and then he got off from that man. He accepted the gesture and now he was watching him.

Sam looked at the man and then at Al, who was standing beside him. "Do you know him?"

"Tom Rodney," Al hissed.

The man on the floor looked at Al's direction. "Ah, it's you. The Hounder Scouts. The Hounders left their nest...don't tell me, the White Fangs are out too? Finally, somebody had listened to my warning,"

******


	28. A Song for the Wolves

Twenty-Seven

**A Song for the Wolves  
**

The bar at the corner of the street looked deserted. The neon lights, which showed the name "The Lone Wolf" was slanted and both "O"s were off. Besides Sam, the Twins and Rodney, there were other three men, who sat far away from each other, as if they did not want to be bothered. The red light at every corner did not help the bar at all, if not even made it shadier. The barkeeper set the music down low, as if he did not want anybody to hear the music or perhaps he did not want to disturb his guests' thoughts.

Rodney took them out of his apartment because he did not feel secure after he had heard what happened to his apartment. Al had taken the liberty to tell him – in details, how the apartment had looked like. So detailed, that Sam had to force himself to remember if he had also seen the same things.

When they entered the bar, the bar keeper raised his hand and said, "The usual, Tom?" Rodney did not answer, but grinned. "Right, come soon!"

Obviously, they knew each other. Rodney must have been some kind of a barfly, a faithful customer to the bar, who occupied a special place and ordered specific drinks, night after night. He chose a place not so far from the men's room. Sam wondered why he had chosen the stinkiest place when the bar was empty. Then, he saw the exit sign. Rodney wanted to be close to the exit door, just in case something happened. Clever choice.

The bar keeper came with two bottles of beer and four glasses.

"On me," said Sam when Rodney wanted to take his wallet. Sookie had given him enough money for the expenses. He refused it, but Sookie insisted. She knew that the boys – that was how she addressed the Twins, did not have so much money, so she did not want that they spent anything for the case. "Eric pays for everything," she said. "James' interests are on the line too, so please take it,"

"I don't fucking understand this," said Sam after the barkeeper left. "Sookie said you became a half-life and you were dead,"

"I don't know who the hell Sookie is, maybe some chick who I screwed once and she is obviously still holding grudge against me, but I am telling you man, I am fucking alive! And I ain't half-life either,"

Sam wanted to tell Rodney who Sookie was, but changed his mind when he saw the twins' reaction. Those 'conversation canon-er' kept their mouths shut. Colin must have ordered them not to reveal their true whereabouts.

"Where have you been?" Al asked. "We haven't heard about you for a long time,"

"I've been around," he said.

Sam had different a imagination about Rodney. He thought, Rodney would be somebody big, strong, showed some kind of wisdom or calmness on his face that brought respects to anybody who saw him. But no, he was an ordinary man, with average height. There was nothing special on his face, except his buckteeth. His clothes were weathered and his skin clearly showed what he had done with his life, rough and brown from the sun.

"Look, I don't know what you guys are looking for here, but I can tell you, it's the wrong place to start," he said. "You want to find out from where all those murders began, starts with Bon Temps. I heard a dead vampire has arisen and I heard that you guys look for his protection,"

The Twins looked at him with murderous look. They did not show their canine teeth or their grey fur, but something was telling Sam, they were trying to keep their emotions under control. Their jaws moved dangerously and their eyes turned yellowish.

"Proud people, aye," Rodney drank his beer. "I know you are, but I also know that you are very cautious," his eyes twinkled. "You would not come looking for me if you did not think that the situation was getting out of your claws,"

"So what do you know, Old Fool?" asked Chad.

"Didn't Jake tell you? I told everything to Jake. I even gave him the paper,"

"What paper?" Sam asked.

"A paper with the blue-print of the building on it," he bent forward and whispered.

"From where did you get that?"

Rodney drank his beer. It was obvious that he did not want to answer, but after several minutes of swearing words under his breath, he said, "A vampire,"

The three of them became quiet. A vampire...who? They looked at each other, but nobody gave any sign that they knew any of this.

"I felt ashamed to admit this," said Rodney. "But sooner or later somebody would get to know and it's better if y'all heard it directly from me. Around a year ago, a vampire came to me, not so far from this very bar. He said to me, he had something important to tell me and I had to promise him that I would tell everybody. I asked him, why, I didn't owe him anything, right? Then he said, what he knew would be very important to the werewolf community because they would be used as the first targets. 'What target?' I asked. 'To know if the serum they are making works or not.' he said. 'What serum?' I asked. 'Only if you are willing to spread the word, then I will tell you,' that vampire said. I thought at that time, well why the fuck not. So I gave him my promise. He said, 'You are Tom Rodney, werewolves community respect you because you always keep your promise. Don't disappoint me.' It freaked me out; I can tell you. That vampire had been watching me for a long time before he decided to choose me as his messenger. 'If you do what I ask, I guarantee you will live easily. You don't have to worry about money any more,' he said. To be honest, I did not think so much about money at that time. I know, I am not rich, but I always get by. I am welcomed everywhere I go, for a lone wolf like me, it is much better than money. You never know when your bad day is, if you know what I mean. Then I think, well, why not. There are many lone wolves like me, who need a place to stay. So I agreed. 'First,' he said. 'You have to work in a factory,' What factory, he didn't say. 'And report everything you see there. It would be better if you have somebody you can trust to watch your back. If they know who you are, you won't leave the factory alive. Mind you, you are a pure werewolf. They only accepted made werewolves to work there. I can put you in, but never ever transform in front of them, no matter what happens,' That's when I started looking for somebody to work with me. There are many who wanted to work with me, but I chose Jake Purefoy. You – Hounders are quiet workers. You don't talk much and you still believe in some old rules, like respecting the older ones. I liked that. So, I picked him among many. Colin made me swear that I would take good care of his brother. He seemed not to able to forgive himself that he was the one who turned his brother into werewolf. I told him, don't worry, I would keep an eye on him. Everything was going perfectly well. That vampire came from time to time to tell us what to do or where to go. I asked him what kind of factory we're working at anyway? He said, True Blood. Why is it so hush-hush. True Blood is legal now. He said, 'It's not a normal True Blood. I fear for the future of our races,' I tell you boys, I've never met such a vampire before. He was so calm and distant. He seemed to be genuinely caring about what he said. Shame that I can't see his face. He always stood in the dark and wore no perfume or whatsoever that I could smell him. Then, Jake had the idea to attack the factory. He said that if all werewolf clans united we could attack the factory easily. It was not easy, you know. We don't know where the factory was because they always blinded us and the car that drove us there was closed tight and they had some kind of chemical stuff that prevented us from smelling anything,"

"Do you know where you lived at that time?"

"Shreveport,"

"Alcide Hervaux must have known about this. It's his territory,"

"I think he already knew by now. Jake went to him after we left the factory. At that time, we had not been sure about anything. We lived in some kind of workers' lodging, which had people in silver suits as security guards. Boys, I can tell you. I felt like I was living in a concentration camp, you know, where people were collected to be butchered,"

"How did you get out of there?"

"Around half a year ago, that vampire came to me and said that he would give me something very important; The blueprint of the factory. Obviously, he agreed with Jake's planning to attack the factory, but he said, Jake and I had to leave the building. He helped us free. I went straight to Baton Rouge, and Jake went to Hervaux and that was the last time I saw Jake. He called me to tell me that he wanted to use the apartment for a while before he headed to Beaumont and I said yes,"

The twins looked at each other.

"You mean..." said Al.

"The one who had lived here was..." said Chad.

"Jake Purefoy," finished Sam.

"Wow, Boys. Why are you using past? What happened to Jake?"

The Twins' faces were pale. Slowly, grey hair covered their uncovered skin. Their eyes were getting more and more yellowish; and the shapes changed. They were transforming.

"Boys..." said Rodney, grabbing their hands. "Look at me...take a deep breath...look at me...now, chant your prayer, but only in your hearts...now, easy..."

His voice was calm and hypnotic, made Sam feel calm down too. Rodney knew what was going on inside the Twins' minds. Every were or shifter like himself, who lived their lives based on instinct and emotions could feel or understand the meanings of expression that rose on the Twins' face. They were mourning.

"I asked the vampire to take care of Jake and he agreed to it. He said to me that no matter what happened Jake would be under his protection. So Boys, don't think bad, he might have been still alive,"

The Twins' skin was slowly returning to normal. Their eyes were not yellowish any more.

"I know, I haven't been acting like a good friend to Jake, but I will try to get information as fast as I can about his whereabouts. I should have stayed with him and did not let him alone,"

"Why didn't you?" Al's voice sounded growling.

"At that time, we thought it was better for us to split. They were looking for two made-werewolves, and they knew our faces. If we were separated, at least one of us was still able to tell the truth,"

"Have you been looking for Jake?"

"Aye. I told Colin as soon as I could and I have been looking for him in underworld, but he was not heard....now, now," Rodney's hands grabbed the Twins' tighter. "It doesn't mean that he is dead,"

_If the half-life at the Palace wasn't Rodney, then who was he?_ Sam thought. _Could he be..?_

The barkeeper came to their table. "You have to leave, now," he said. "My men outside said that they saw some people coming this way,"

"Friendly people?" asked Rodney.

"Very friendly. They are dressing up in party costumes," he said. "Your favourite colour. Silver,"

They stood up.

"I stay," said Sam. "Silver means nothing to me,"

"You'd better go," said Rodney. "If something happens on the road, at least the Twins still have you. I created this mess; let me finish what I started. Tell Colin, I'll see him on the Great Plains,"

Led by the barkeeper, Sam and the Twins ran to the back door. The Twins transformed into werewolves as soon as they were outside and ran along the dark alley. Soon, they couldn't be seen any more. Sam tried to walk as normal as possible and turned to the front part of the building, when somebody in suit stopped him. "You have to turn around, Sir," he said. "There is a danger animal loose from the Zoo inside the bar, no civilian is allowed to be around this neighbourhood. Security reasons,"

"Come on, man!" said Sam. "I live a block away from here. I don't want to make a big turnaround,"

That man shook his head. "I am sorry, Sir. I can't allow you,"

Sam cursed aloud and then turned around. He closed his eyes when he heard gunshots and could not help himself, but to cry. Tom Rodney, one of the oldest Lone Wolves died that night. A single silver bullet went through his head, witnessed by the barkeeper of a dirty bar, who was standing behind his bar counter, shaking and trying hard not to piss inside his trousers.

* * *

Sookie was sitting on the bed as Eric came in. He had not been home for two days. He had not called and it looked like he had not changed his clothes either.

"Hey," said Sookie, tried to be as normal as possible. "You look like a mess,"

Eric took off his t-shirt and his jeans. Under his jeans was a bright red thong, showing clearly the shape of his firm ass. "I need a bath," he said.

Sookie wanted to ask where he had been, but she decided not to. She knew, sometimes the best thing was to wait. Eric's face was hard and she took it as a sign that he did not want to be bothered. If she asked him, she would not get any answer from him. She'd better wait.

Eric turned around. The material of his thong must have been such a quality because it was so stretched; and showed some bulk that Sookie believed it was already reaching its maximum capacity. Any tiny movement would possibly cause that thong to break. "Do you know where my bath robe is?" he asked.

Sookie got down and opened the cupboard. "Where it normally is," she took the black robe and gave it to him. "You want to swim, or should I prepare a bath for you?"

"A bath would be enough, thank you,"

That was not very Eric. Normally, he would say 'service, I love service' with his growling or teasing voice.

Sookie watched him as they were waiting for the water to fill up the bath tube. He did not look pale nor have the dark red rings under his eyes. At least, he had fed. She could expect that Eric would be able to reason. She had seen how it was when he was hungry. He was grumpy and almost unable to restrain himself. However, he did not look happy either. Eric was most of the time expressionless, but this time, his eyes were avoiding hers and the line of his mouth was down.

"How is Bill?"

"He'll live,"

"I hope you did not take him to Leclreq Wellness Centre,"

"No. He is with Pam now, at Godric's place. Why?"

So, he had been in Dallas. "That place is dangerous,"

Eric looked at her. Now, she got his attention. His eyes were narrowing. "What do you mean?"

Sookie told him what Grace had told her. "Do you think it's the same building?"

"I have to read what Cecco wrote about it," he said, reaching out his hand. "Have a bath with me,"

That was not a question; that was an order.

Softly, Sookie washed Eric's hair. His hair was small and soft. He put his head on her shoulder and let her do what she wanted. The warm water from the tap was still running, creating white foam around them. Eric had gone inside the tube first and watched her whilst she was undressing. In different situation, he would have said something naughty or given her his smirks, but tonight he was only watching her.

"It's been a long time since I have a bath with a woman," he said.

"Had you and Aude rarely done it?"

"We had," he said. "But not in the last two years of her life. Pity, I loved having a bath with her and she liked washing my hair. She said it was like washing her doll's hair,"

"You are not a doll,"

"For her, I was. Not one of her favourites, but I was,"

Sookie smiled. Eric had not been Aude's favourite doll and she wondered why. Too naughty, perhaps?

"She thought I was ugly," he said. "My nose is too big,"

Sookie did not know if she should take what he said seriously or not. Eric was a handsome man; she believed many women had said that to him already, thousands if not millions time. But, "Yeah, she was right. Your nose is too big,"

He turned around, took her head and kissed her. The water rippled and jumped out of the bath tube. "Sometimes I think it was a mistake to let her get away with many things, including having you here," he whispered as he let her go. "You are as devilish as she was, if not even more,"

"I take that as a compliment," Sookie touched his lips and kissed his nose.

"Don't be too proud, Stackhouse," he went out of the bath tube. "You don't win my heart yet,"

"If you have any," she said with a grin on her face, but Eric's reaction gave her a surprise.

"Is that what you think also?" His voice was trembled.

_Also?_

Sookie sighed. He was thinking about James, the whole time. She went out of the bath tube, dried up herself and helped Eric to dry up his body. The warm water made his body a little bit warmer too.

"No," Sookie said. "I think you have a heart, you just don't want to admit that you have one,"

Eric lifted her body and put her on the commode so that they were almost at the same height. He opened her legs so he could stand between them. Another time, another circumstance, if they were naked like that, they would end up making love. Now, he just held her tight and put his head on her shoulder. "How is he?"

"Sad and confused," Sookie kissed his head. "And probably also shocked, but I think Alcide had talked him into it, you know, helped him to understand the whole situation,"

"Good for him," he said. "I wish I could stay that night, but Bill and André were more important than his feelings toward me,"

"Bill perhaps, but not André,"

"Why? He made his move on you?"

"You knew about that?"

"I am not blind. He has wanted you since we were at the Palace,"

"He doesn't want me; he wants James. At least that was what he said,"

"He can't stand James," said Eric. "I can see from his gestures, he's not secured how to behave around him and James can't stand him either. What does he want to do with James?"

"To protect him,"

"That's the funniest joke I've ever heard," But Eric was not laughing. His hug was getting tighter. Eric was pissed. "When did he say that?"

"When I was alone with him,"

"What else did he say?"

"He wanted to marry me, under vampiric law," said Sookie and she gasped. Eric had bored his fingernails inside her hip, it was burning and also painful.

"Sorry," he said, letting her go.

"Can you stop what he's planning to do?"

"What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know. Kicking his sorry ass would be a nice start,"

"I could marry you under vampiric law before he did," he looked her straight into her eyes. His blue eyes looked thoughtful. "You know, joining the ancient dagger, bonding us together until death do us apart,"

Yes, she knew that. She also knew the consequences. She should have been worried or thoughtful, just like Eric. However, she could not help, but to smile. Two men had proposed her in different, but somehow the same weird circumstances. Alcide had done it in a car, and Eric had done it naked. "Marry me, then," she said with a laugh.

"Well," now Eric was smiling. It seemed he knew why she had laughed. "I never thought I would ask another woman to marry me whilst I was naked," Now, he looked more relaxed. "But it's not a bad idea, I have to admit. It worked once, maybe it will work again,"

"You asked Aude to marry you when you were naked?"

"I said to her that I would marry her as I was turning her into a woman,"

Yes, Aude had told her that. "It's a bad habit," Sookie tried to make a joke, despite the jealousy that suddenly came over her. Aude had died, she told herself. She should have been able to stop this jealousy. "You should not do it too often, you know, people might misunderstand you,"

Eric laughed. His laughter was deep and vibrant. "You are indeed something, Stackhouse," he said. "Indeed,"

After that night, they never talked about marriage any more not until later years. That conversation was like a little secret that only both of them knew, and somehow Sookie liked it that she shared the same secret with Eric, a vampire who had roamed the world for more than a thousand years and had many secrets.

They dressed up as fast as they could when James knocked on the door and told them that Sam had returned from Baton Rouge. Eric and James faced each other without saying any word. Their blue eyes glared into each other and after a while, James forced himself to smile.

"We have to talk," said Eric. "But not now,"

"Yes, Papa,"

"Good,"

Sookie shivered hearing how cold their voices were. Like father, like son. None of them was willing to take a step forward. "What did Sam say?" she tried to break the ice.

"He didn't say anything," said James. "But he looked worried,"

In the study room, which Eric used as his little office; Sam was waiting for them, accompanied by the Twins, Cooper, Colin, and Alcide.

The situation in Baton Rouge was apparently worse than what Sookie had thought.

"Sookie, how did you know that the half-life that you met was Tom Rodney?" Sam asked her as she entered the room.

"I did not," said Sookie. "He told us among his muttering, gibberish nonsense,"

"Did he say his name was Tom Rodney, or did you hear him saying the name?" asked Al.

Sookie looked at James and Eric, who were staring at Sam. James was going to say something, but something changed his mind. Eric must have told him in his head not to say anything.

_I met the real Rodney, _Sam told her in his head. _He is dead now. The one you met, it might have been Colin's brother, Jake Purefoy._

Sookie covered her mouth with her hand.

"Sookie?" asked Colin. "It's very important to me. Please, if you know anything, anything at all about the half-life..."

Sookie did not know what or how to answer that question. "I don't know," she said. "He didn't exactly say in normal way. His words were mixed and I am not sure if he realized what he was saying,"

"When did the vampires say he was turned?" Colin's eyes fixed on her.

"A year ago,"

"He lied," said Chad.

"Bill Compton never lies," said Eric. "Not to me,"

"Tom Rodney was still alive two days ago," said Chad, staring at Eric. His eyes were yellowish. "Obviously, your friend is a liar,"

Eric sniffed; his head moved like a snake. Sookie grabbed her own hands tightly. Eric did not like to hear somebody calling his friend a liar.

"Chad..." said Colin, flashing a warning looks to him.

Chad cleared his throat. "I apologize, Sheriff," he said. "I don't know whom to trust any more,"

"Accepted," said Eric with a stare that not less dangerous. "I said Bill Compton never lies to me, it doesn't mean that he never lies to anybody else," he looked at Sookie and James.

"He gave us the data," said James. "Somebody must have given him the information," _or he found a way to block my thought. _He continued in his head. _Because he was very certain about it._

"That half-life could be my brother," said Colin. "Rodney told Sam that the last time he saw Jake was six month ago and the last call he received from Jake was around four months ago, the same time as he visited Alcide,"

Sookie felt weak on her knees. That was what André had said about the half-life. He had turned him around the same time. Had it been also the reason he had been able to recognize Alcide's scent on James' body?

Eric grabbed her arms before she fell on the floor.

"Please, Sookie," said Colin. "I just want to hear the truth. For me it's better to know that he was dead than not to know his whereabouts,"

"I am afraid...he was your brother, Colin,"

The Hounders were quiet. Colin closed his eyes, and then he took a deep breath. "Thank you," slowly he rose. "Thank you to you too, Sheriff, for ending his misery. I need some time to think," then he left the room.

The Twins left the room too, but Cooper stayed.

Eric took Sookie to the sofa, and gently asked her to sit down.

Slowly Sam told them what he had heard from Rodney. From beginning till the end. "Obviously, they have planned this for a long time already," he said. "Longer than what Rodney had heard, otherwise that vampire would have not been able to give him such detail information,"

"And whoever the vampire is, he must have been somebody with high rank," said Alcide.

"But why did Mr. Compton lie?" said James.

"Perhaps that was what André Paul told him," said Sookie.

"What do you mean, Sookie?" asked Alcide.

"He was Jack's maker. He told me himself,"

"Why would he tell you that?" asked Sam.

_Yeah, Mom. Why would that little prick tell you that?_ James asked her in his head.

Sookie looked at Eric for help, but the one she asked for help was busier playing with her hair than looking at her. "He needs our help, that's why. He believed that there was something in the new True blood that might endanger vampires or werewolves," Sookie looked at James, who was standing beside the door. She hoped James could understand why his father did not want to drink True Blood any more.

_Don't look at me like that, Mom. _James said in his head. _I know that he has to do it, but still I don't like it!_

"Did he also say why he had turned him?" asked Cooper.

"Yes," said Sookie without taking her eyes off James. "The werewolf – Jake, was dying when André saw him beside the river, but he did not tell me how,"

"Where is he now?" said Alcide to Eric.

"Arkansas," said Eric, letting Sookie's hair go. "To meet the King. His Majesty had called him. It will be a hard time for the Queen, I believe. His Majesty will not let her go so easily. Just make sure that there is no single traces about the incident two nights ago, Alcide, otherwise we will face a bigger problem than an angry Queen. His Majesty, the King of Arkansas is more powerful and has more vampires than the Queen,"

"I am not sure if I can stay here for a longer time, Eric," said Alcide. "I told my men to check the Leclreq Wellness Centre. I hope we will find out soon if that building is the factory or not, otherwise we won't be able to set the plan,"

"Plan for what?"

"To attack that place," Alcide said. "I know that your wife died there. I don't mean to disrespect her memory, but we have to destroy that place before it's too late,"

"You're right," said Eric in a low voice. It must have been hard for him to agree with Alcide's decision. "Give me a little bit more time before you make the final decision. Let me read Cecco's diary first. Who knows, he gave us some hints,"

"I can enter Leclreq Wellness Centre in the day," said Sam. "Some nurses, who work there, love collie,"

"How do you know?" James' eyes were wide open.

"Sam is a shifter, James," said Alcide. "His main shift is a collie. Of course he knows,"

"You are Dean?!" James' jaw dropped. _Cool! I can ask him about Victoria!_

Sookie pretended not to hear what James said in his head. Victoria was all what he had in mind, even when they were discussing an important matter.

"Yes, I am known as Dean by some women," Sam smiled at Sookie. His eyes were twinkling. Eric sniffed. He was bothered by Sam's affection toward her, and Sam clearly was enjoying it.

"You guys know that?!" James spread his glare. "You all know about Sam and nobody told me anything?"

"You should train your nose," Eric said with a sharp tone. "Shifters' smell is unmistakable,"

James' eyes were getting brighter. "Really?!"

Sam did not say anything, but grinned widely, but his grin was quickly gone when they heard a long howling from outside, a lamenting howling that made the hair on the back of Sookie's neck stand. Colin was mourning for his brother, answered by other long howling from the Hounders'.

Cooper excused himself and went out to join his brothers. Without saying anything, Alcide left too, followed by James and Sam.

Sookie held Eric tight. She remembered the day when she thought Eric had died. She had felt hollow and numb. Everything had seemed to be heavy and slow. The sound of the howling was more or less like it, heavy and slow. Eric kissed her forehead, as if he wanted to make her sure that he was there, by her side; but somehow, the feelings and the memory of that day were not easily going away.


	29. Of Duty and Wishes

Twenty-Eight

**Of Duty and Wishes  
**

"I heard you were going back to Beaumont," Prescott stood beside the door. His pale blond hair, blown by the wind, was dancing in the air, touching his face, giving him a soft look.

James liked Prescott. He was not a man with many words, but when he said something, it was always useful. He had told him a lot about the woods, some places inside the wood he should visit or he should avoid, and more importantly, he told him how to communicate with the wolves.

"First, think something good, something that makes you feel relaxed. Then, focus on what you want them to do. Third, have eye contact with them and hold your stare. Finally, tell them what to do. You have to watch the tone in your voice. They have good ears. They can tell if you are afraid of them or not. Like with dogs, you have to show them who the master is, otherwise they will play with you,"

"What would happen then?"

"They could kill you,"

It's a pity that he rarely smiled. He mostly ran around with hard face, as if he had a lot of things on his mind. However, when he asked him what was going on, Prescott did not give any answer.

Cooper stopped packing. "Yes, we are,"

"Should I come with you?"

Cooper turned around. "I don't have any rights over you," he said, putting his hands on his hips, looking straight into Prescott's eyes.

For a moment, nobody said anything. James looked at them as somebody was watching a tennis match, eagerly waiting to see who hit the ball first.

"Yes, you do," finally, Prescott said. His eyes were shining bright, as if he relieved that he had said it.

"I have a wife, Prescott," Cooper said, continued putting his clothes in the bag.

"Tell me what you want me to do," Prescott turned around. "And I'll do it," then he walked away.

"I don't know that you have a wife," James said. He looked at Cooper's finger. "You don't wear a ring,"

"We were married last year and no, I don't wear any ring because I don't want to," Cooper closed his bag. "Sometimes, you have to do what you have to do for your people, James." he looked at Prescott's figure, which was moving away. "Even when it's hard for you to do it,"

"I don't understand what it has got to do with Prescott,"

"We are a dying clan, James. Each of us has the obligation to have a child to continue the line. I have been avoiding it too long and my people - our brothers, do not say anything about it. When Rodney came to us and told us what was happening, I just thought, I could not continue pursuing my own happiness without thinking about the sake of the clan," Cooper's eyes looked sad. "Then, I decided to marry the woman who was chosen for me,"

"What about your wife? I mean, do you love your wife?"

"She is a good woman," he said. "It's good enough for me,"

"I will not spend my life with a woman who I don't love," James said. Victoria's face flashed in his eyes. If there was a woman he was going to marry, then it would be Victoria. It had to be.

Cooper messed his hair. James hated that. Everybody messed around with his hair. Maybe he should shave his head and painted black or something. "You still have years of time to learn about duty and wishes, Little Brother. I do hope you don't have to choose between them," Suddenly he left the room. "Prescott!" James heard him calling Prescott. James went to the door to see.

The faery stopped and turned around. Cooper went to him, grabbed his neck and kissed him. That faery looked at Cooper when he released his kiss. He did not smile, but his face was bright. Then, Cooper took his hand and went back to his room. "James, can you excuse us for a moment, please?" he said.

"Yeah, sure," said James and went out; Cooper and Prescott entered the room and slammed the door.

James walked to the house with head down. Mom did not decide whether they went to Beaumont together with the Hounders or not; she did not even decide if they went or not. He did not like the situation; he wanted everything to be sure. He felt like trapped here. He could not go to the town, he could not watch TV, nothing. He could not even call anybody! He could call Godric, but Godric was not the one he wanted to talk to; he wanted to talk to Victoria, he wanted to see her again. Where was she anyway? If she took care of the murder case, why didn't she try to contact them – the werewolves, or him, the one who would die, if they did not see each other any more. Didn't she feel what he felt?

James sighed.

Three days and nothing happened.

Papa had returned. He said he wanted to talk to him, but it seemed he did not find any time to do it. Either he was busy with Mom, or with Fangtasia's business. James turned around and looked at Cooper's room. One thing that he was glad; Papa thought about Mom, a lot. How much he loved the way she laughed, her naughty comments or her golden hair, which looked like dancing rye in the early summer (James never thought that Papa could be very romantic). When Papa started thinking about Mom's body, normally James just closed his eyes and tried to block his thoughts. He understood that Papa liked Mom's body very much, but he didn't need to know the details.

James sighed. Even when he did not say it, Papa's feelings toward Mom were strong. He was sure that Papa would not cheat on her, or think that being with Mom was a part of his duty, just like what Cooper did.

"You come with us, don't you James?" asked Doc as he sat beside him. Doc was sitting in the kitchen, reading _Cajun Picayune _dated yesterday. "It will be fun," he folded the newspaper. "You can learn riding horses, joining us harvesting some fruits and you can swim in the river too!"

"Mom doesn't say anything yet," he said. "It's nerving,"

"Talk to the Sheriff. I am sure he can work on it," Doc grinned. "You're not still angry with him, are you?"

"Well...a bit, yeah,"

"Man has to do what a man has to do, Little Brother, or in the Sheriff's case, a vampire has to do what a vampire has to do. He has to drink blood; otherwise, he will die...again. Besides, those people who came here, were bad people. It was either them or us,"

"I know. Alcide has told me," James said.

The phone rang.

Doc picked it up. "Yeah?" he said, and then he looked at James. "Do you have an Uncle named Jason?"

James nodded.

"He and Sheriff Bellefleur are here,"

James stood up. Sheriff Bellefleur...was Victoria too?

"Let them in," he said and put the phone down. "They want to see Miss Sookie, and no, James. Larry didn't say if Luna was with them or not,"

"I didn't ask that," James felt his cheek hot.

Doc grinned. "I know,"

Since the last attack, they were more careful with letting people in. Alcide had made two security rings during the day: one at the gate, and the other one around the house. Larry and the Twins were at the gate, Cooper, Doc, and three of Alcide's men were around the house. In the night, he would double the rings and included the woods. Prescott had agreed to do the woods patrol. Sometimes alone, sometimes Cooper or one of the Twins accompanied him.

Uncle Jason hugged him tight when he saw him. "Man, you are big now!" he said, patting his shoulder. "I thought I only left you for a week or so, but you are...man! You're almost a man now!"

James grinned and his grin became wider when he saw Victoria standing behind Sheriff Bellefleur.

"Where is your mom?" asked Uncle Jason.

"She's inside. Come in!"

Mom's face looked very serious when she saw the guests. She hugged Uncle Jason and smiled at Sheriff Bellefleur; however, her stare frowned when she saw Victoria.

James pulled himself together and tried to concentrate. It was hard enough not to stare at Victoria, who smelt very nice today – she smelt of vanilla and strawberry; let alone to act calm and to pretend that he did not notice how Mom had not shot him with her angry glare. He did not understand why Mom hated Victoria so much. She did not do anything wrong! The opposite, she made him happy; Mom should have liked her and not acted as if she wanted to jump on Victoria's throat every time they saw each other.

"I didn't get much, Sis," Uncle Jason said. "Sorry. I think we are dealing with a very secretive organization and they have a lot of money that can keep everybody's mouth shut. What my informants could tell me was their weapons were modified and specially made, it is also said that they are like stealth, they move very fast and it's not easy to track down. It sounds to me they were trained to hide themselves for years, if not for ages,"

"It sounds like vampires community to me," said Sheriff Bellefleur. "They could hide themselves for centuries,"

"If that's the case, do you think Eric knew anything about it?"

Mom did not answer right away. She looked at Uncle Jason and finally said, "Possibly,"

"And another thing," Uncle Jason continued. "Lafayette is not going to be happy about this, but my friend also told me that Joseph' church, FOTS, has ordered a huge number of .44 magnum and carbines and I mean huge. My friend is not a big dealer, so he was asked for around 100 pieces, but some other guys were asked for bigger number. They are going for hunting, Sis,"

"From where did they get the money?"

"Beat me," Jason said. "It's getting too much for me to handle, Sis. I can't ask around without raising questions and making some wrong people to pay attention one me because obviously, I – we, are dealing with a big fish here. What about you? Can your people at the palace give you any information?"

"They don't have information about the guns," Mom said, "but they said something about silver. We need urgently information about silver,"

James tried to remember who gave Mom information about silver. It was only a story from Sam about Rodney and people in silver suits, just like the one who came to attack them. Whom did she mean? Did Mom try to get information from Uncle Jason or did she try to hide the incident from them? Why did she do that?

James looked at Uncle Jason and Sheriff Bellefleur. He wrote something on his book, whilst Uncle Jason's face was suddenly pale. James wondered what Uncle Jason was thinking, was he also afraid with silver? When his eyes met Victoria's, his heart sank to see how cold those green eyes were. Those soft lips were creating a straight line; not a tiny sign of smile on her face and she acted as if she had not known him. What did she do that for? Didn't she like him any more? He was there all for her; she could do whatever she wanted with him. Or perhaps he could copy Prescott and said that he would do anything he wanted her to do, but a very sharp looks from Mom made him cross his hands. Mom. Victoria was afraid of Mom. He could feel it.

"I also received information the other day, Sook," said Sheriff Bellefleur. "That the men in the photo that I showed to you are from Texas. I just thought, since some of your guests are from Beaumont, is it okay if I talk to them? Just in case they know the men we've been looking for,"

"James, where is Cooper?" asked Mom.

"Er..." James looked at Cooper's room. He was with Prescott for the moment. James was not sure if Cooper wanted to be bothered, "He...er...is busy, Mom," he said. "But I can try to get Colin,"

Mom was opening her mouth when Sheriff Bellefleur said, "Colin? Who's Colin?" he opened his book. "He is not on my list. It would be lovely if you can get him, James. Thanks."

"Yeah, sure," James went out. It was better that way anyway. He could not stand the way Victoria acted in front of him. She had been cold and distant before they knew each other better. But they had kissed and he swore that she liked his kisses; and the way she had moaned when he squeezed her ass...no girl made those noises if she did not like what her boyfriend did to her, or?

Doc woke Colin up. Colin had his night shift tonight; therefore, he went to bed so that he could gain some energy. His eyes were red and he was not really there when he followed James. "I need some strong coffee," he murmured. James said he would tell Janine about it.

Sheriff Bellefleur jumped on his feet when he saw Colin and so did Victoria. Colin's fatigue was suddenly gone and he looked alerted. James admired Colin's instincts, it was as if he never switched them off; it did not really matter when or where, Colin was able to make himself ready to fight.

"Mr. Colin...."

"Purefoy," Colin reached out his hand.

"I am sorry, Sir. But you are under arrest for the industrial espionage activity," said Sheriff Bellefleur.

"What?!" said Colin in disbelief.

Victoria opened her bag and took out a photo. "Do you recognize this man, Sir?" she pointed the other man who was with Colin.

"Yes," said Colin. "That was Tom Rodney, but the other man wasn't me. That's my brother, Jake,"

Both Mom and he looked at the photo, and then to Colin. James could swear that he was watching the same man because the half-life whom he had seen at the Palace looked nothing like the man in the photo. The half-life had hair all over his body and his face had been like a dog face and nothing on that face that reminded him on Colin.

"Was, Sir?"

"My brother had died around a week ago, and I believed Rodney died two days ago," said Colin. He looked at the picture. "When did you take this picture; and where?"

Victoria did not answer the questions; she even gave him another one, "How do you know that he died, Mr. Purefoy?"

"Sam Merlotte told me,"

"Merlotte?" Sheriff Bellefleur's face became red. "Sam knew this guy?" he looked at Mom. "And nobody told me?!"

"I don't think that Sam knew Rodney, Andy," said Mom.

"But you know Mr. Purefoy and you don't bother to tell me?"

"It's complicated, Andy."

"How complicated?"

Mom told the sheriff about Colin and him; she also told the sheriff the real reason Colin was in Bon Temps. James listened to her story impatiently. He wanted to know what they wanted to do to Colin. He could imagine that they probably took him to jail. To be honest, he did not like that imagination at all.

"What are you going to do...Detective?" James had almost called her "Vicky", but Mom's stares stopped him just in time.

Victoria looked at him and his heart was lighter, when for a moment her green eyes met his with the lights he knew and missed so much, soft and tender green light, which made his body temperature rise. Her lips moved, but he did not hear a word she was saying. It felt as if her lips were moving on his, touching them, caressing them. Only when Sheriff Bellefleur was heard in between he could grab his concentration back.

"...I can try not to put the result of this meeting on my report, but I can't promise anything. My superior in Baton Rouge is under a lot of pressure and he wants me to get the maximum results in a short time,"

"I am sorry, Detective. I will go back to Beaumont the day after tomorrow. My brother has just passed away, I have to inform my family and prepare the funeral. You're welcome to come with us if you think I will run away,"

James forced himself not to say anything in his head because he was afraid that Mom might hear it. He wanted to go to Beaumont! Please, please, please....

Victoria and Sheriff Bellefleur looked at each other. "We'll think about it," finally the sheriff said. "What time will you leave?"

"Around ten in the morning," Colin said. "As soon as Alcide's men come to replace my men, we will leave,"

Mom did not say anything. Even when Victoria and Sheriff Bellefleur left, she was just sitting there and ignoring him completely. James wanted to run after them, but Colin gave him a sign to stay put. Obviously, he also knew that Mom did not like Victoria. "I'll talk to her so that you can come with us to Beaumont," he whispered. "Just take it easy, okay?"

James sighed. Everybody treated her like a man, except Mom. Mom still thought that he was a boy, who did not know anything. He hated that!

James went to Cooper's room. He liked being around Cooper. Cooper always managed to make him feel better with his stories or with his way of telling the thing as they were, without covering them with sweet-talking. But when he heard voices from inside as if somebody was under a lot of pain, he turned around and walked away. He did not know what Cooper and Prescott were doing; he'd better leave them alone.

* * *

Alcide came that evening with the list of some names to be put inside the database that they were working on. The list itself was getting bigger. Sookie never thought that there were many werewolves around Bon Temps and Shreveport.

"Mostly they are my people," Alcide said. "The List from Yellowstone will come in some days. They don't exactly agree with the list, but they also want to find out who killed Simon. I can understand them. Yellowstone wolves are very secretive; they wanted to remain unknown,"

Sookie believed each and every werewolf wanted to remain unknown, if that was possible.

"What's going on with James?" he changed the subject. "He looked annoyed,"

"He wants to go to Beaumont, I think," Sookie said. She lied. She knew that James wanted to go to Beaumont, especially now that Luna was possibly going to go too.

"Don't be so hard on him," Alcide said. "He's a good boy; don't worry too much,"

"What do you think? Should I let him go?"

His green eyes became brighter. "You ask me?"

"Hey, you're his wolf-father! You know about werewolf society better than I do. If I want to have an opinion, I think, it would be better if it came from a source that I could trust,"

Alcide flashed his brilliant smile. His white teeth were like thousand neon lamps, brightened his face and the people or the things around him. "If you agree that he becomes the full member of The Hounders, then I think it will be better for him to learn how to live among them. They are a strict clan. Every member has their rights and responsibility and they follow them faithfully. Of course, there's always a rotten apple in the whole bunch, but mostly they do what is told. Is that what you want from him?"

"I don't know," Sookie said. She really did not know. She knew James would need protection, much more in the day than in the night, but she was also not sure if she could let him join such a clan.

"Or he could be a member of my clan," Alcide looked at her, fondly. "He is my son and you are his mother, perhaps, we could be a family after all,"

Sookie smiled. "I am flattered, Alcide..."

"But you won't do it," he said. "I won't stop trying to convince you how good it is to have a family with me. I want you to know that,"

At least, he stopped talking about the subject that evening as they started to fill in the database with the names, ages and latest addresses. Alcide stood so closely behind her, Sookie could smell his strong musk perfume mixed with his own body odour. Different from Eric's perfume, his perfume was so dominant that she felt as if she was surrounded by two strong arms that made her feel like she was in some kind of strong hold, safe, but isolated. Their hands, which were some inches away from each other, sent the heat towards each other that made Sookie felt uncomfortable. Alcide had a higher temperature than normal man, just like Sam. Or was it perhaps because she got used to with a man who was cold like ice? Either way, she felt very uncomfortable and nervous. It seemed that Alcide felt the same, but instead of taking his hand away, he drew it closer and almost touched hers when suddenly he stopped it.

At the door Eric was standing. Wearing one his 'sleeping clothes', a black boxer and a red silk robe. "I see that you're busy," he said. "I'll be in the swimming pool if you look for me," then he walked away, saying, "Hallo to you too, Alcide,"

Alcide walked to the door and tried to catch Eric with his eyes, but obviously Eric was not there anymore. "He's fucking unbelievable," he said. "Either he trusts you so much or he believes his charm will win you over, but he knows that I love you and he doesn't do anything about it. It's nerving. I wish he said something about it, so I could make the position clear,"

"What position?"

"Claiming you, fighting over you against him,"

"That is nonsense," Sookie said. "You make James your son, do you think he will be happy if he heard what you just said? He respects you as much as he respects Eric. I think if both of you fought over me, you could forget him,"

"Then you make the position clear, Sookie. He won't marry you, and you know that. Marry me," he walked toward her. "Marry me, and I will give my position as the next leader of Long Tooth to other members,"

"Alcide..." Sookie lifted her hands. "Can we just finish what we have to do here, and talk about it later?"

Alcide stood beside the table. He bowed towards her. "You really love him, don't you?"

Sookie touched his face, "I like you Alcide, I really do. It's just, it's not the right place or time to talk about it," she tried to give him an appreciation smile. "And I am grateful to have you here. You are a strong shoulder to lean on for my son...."

"But not for you," slowly he straightened his body. "I understand,"

"You are a friend to me, Alcide and a father to my son, I want to keep it that way,"

"Fair enough," he said. "At least you give me a clear answer, but you can't blame a man for trying,"

After finishing fill in the data, Sookie went to upstairs to look for Eric. She found him beside the pool talking to James with a low voice in Old Norse. He still wore his sleeping clothes, but his hair was dripping wet. She almost could not hear what they were talking about, but then, even when she had been able to hear it loud and clear, she would not have been able to understand it. Then, Eric took James into his arms and kissed him on his forehead. "There are things that you have to learn, James," he said in English. Eric knew she was standing behind them and apparently he wanted to hear what he was saying. "As there are things that I have to learn too. But one thing for certain, you can ask me about anything. Anything at all,"

James hugged him.

"I don't know how to be a father, I have never learned. You have to be patient with me,"

James murmured. Sookie heard something sound like 'yeah, you too' or something like that, but when he let himself go, she saw that his nose was red and his eyes were wet.

"I am a weeper," he said, wiped off his tears. "I cry too easily,"

Eric nodded. "Yes, you are, but that's what differs you from me and that's what makes you better than me,"

Sookie swore she had misheard what Eric had said or perhaps not. Perhaps that was his way to win James' heart again.

"Liar," James said, but he smiled. "You always thought you were better than anybody else, well, except Godric,"

"No, I am not lying," Eric's face looked hard. "I never lie to those whom I love. I do not always tell the whole truth, but I never lie,"

"What is the difference?"

"A lot, my son. A lot," Eric turned around and faced Sookie. "I did a lot of things to your mother that maybe not very pleasant for her," his eyes were twinkling. "But I never lie to her. Yes, I did things so that she did things that I wanted, but at the end, she did them because she wanted to do them to me," Eric looked at her in a way that made her blush. She felt as if he was undressing her right there, in front of James. And the smirks at the corner of his lips...Jesus, that man! She wondered how she could keep her face straight now because if she followed her heart, she would jump on him, right there, right now.

James cleared his throat. He sounded uncomfortable. He must have read what Eric was thinking right now and it must have been uneasy for him to listen. "Papa?"

"Yes, my son?"

"Can I go to Beaumont?"

Eric did not answer; he passed by Sookie and said, "Let me talk to your mother first,"

"Please, Mom? I really really want to go to Beaumont or Dallas. I don't care. Please? I promise I will cause no problem to Godric or to Colin. Please?"

He wanted to be with Luna, that's what he wanted, not to see Godric or to see the Hounders' ranch, but to be with Luna. Sookie sighed.

"Sookie," Eric called her. "Can you come, please?"

Sookie turned around and went to Eric. Behind her, James stood and put his hands in front of his chest. "Please?" he said. "Just this once, Mom. Please?"

"Sookie!"

Sookie continued walking. "I am coming!" she said. "I am thinking about it, okay?" she said to James.

James nodded. "But not too long, okay? Please? I love you, Mom!"

* * *

Colin lighted on his cigarette. His face rose slowly and the little flame from the end of the cigarette made his yellowish eyes looked sinister. "Why didn't you recognize my brother when you saw the photo?" he asked. His voice was low and trembled. "He looks a lot like me; you must have seen our similarity,"

Sookie did not know how to answer that. She remembered his body had been covered with black hair and his eyes had flickered with madness. He had fangs and he had banged his head against the cupboard whilst he had been talking, it was difficult to see his face clearly. "He had black hair, that's what I remember. Why did he have black hair, if he's your brother?"

"He is not a pure blood. I had made him," Colin inhaled his cigarette. "Sometimes it happens that one or more children of the pure blood is or are born as normal human. In my family, it was my brother. I did not mean to turn him; it was an accident. We were just children, playing," his voice trailed. It seemed that he could not forget what happened back then. Sookie felt guilty of bringing it up. She did not mean to open the old wound. "I was around 10 years old and we were playing," Colin continued. "He wanted me to change my shape because he wanted me to catch some kind of plastic boomerang that he was going to throw," he blew some rings of smoke in the air. "But you know children, sometimes they don't know their own strength, or let's just say they cannot calculate their own strength yet. And with weres children, our strength is possible ten times the normal children strength. I jumped on him in my wolf shape; he hit a stone and bled. I did not know what happened after that, all I know some men try to get me off Jake's body. They told me I was biting him and...." Colin smiled bitterly. "He became a werewolf. He was happy about it, he said. And he forgave me because he knew that I did not mean it,"

"It shouldn't have been a problem, should it?"

"To turn your own brother or sister is against the werewolf's law because you can't control the result of the turning. It could happen that they got mad or the gland might kill them. Jake was always out of control during the full moon. He was like a mad dog, or maybe you would call him a dog with rabies. We always have to chain him before the full moon reached the sky and some of us had to be around him all the time. It was not an easy time for any of us, and somehow I felt like I had ruined his life. He could not concentrate on school, never had a steady relationship and could not keep his job. Rodney chose him because he is a Hounder. He was the only one who believed that he could change him and teach him how to control his madness. Heh, what a faith, that they had to die almost at the same time,"

"I am really sorry to hear that," Sookie said. "My brother is a werepanther now, he isn't the same man I used to know; but in his case, it is a better changing. He is more responsible and more serious in seeing life,"

"He is the one who was here today, isn't he?" Colin turned off his cigarette. "He could accompany James to Beaumont, if it is okay with you,"

"What is it with you, people?" Sookie looked at him, amazed. "Why does everybody want James to go to Beaumont?"

"Well," he drew another cigarette from its package. "He accepted my offer and if he wants to be the full member of the Grey Hound, he should see what kind of gang he wants to join, shouldn't he?" he was smiling when he said the word 'gang'. "He will need a lot of protection when the people know who his father is. I just want to make sure that he is worth of our protection,"

Sookie's heart missed a beat. "What do you mean?"

"How long do you want to hide the fact about the Sheriff, Sookie?" he inhaled the cigarette. "We know that he is the father, so does Alcide. I don't know how that vampire did it, but he did it. And if the vampire society know, they will hunt the Sheriff and James down, probably the Sheriff is for them more important than James, but still, James will not escape from this hunting easily,"

"I don't know what you are talking about," Sookie tried to keep the rhythm of her heart under control.

"Yes, you do, Sookie," Colin looked at her. His eyes were again yellowish. "Eric Northman is James' father. You can lie to us, but James can't. We all can see from his reactions towards Northman; how fond he is and how eager he is to please him. He speaks his language and maybe you don't notice it, but he resembles to Northman more and more each day. It scares me, I have to tell you, but when I saw him standing surrounded by the dogs, I saw Northman on his face, the cold, calculating Northman,"

Sookie admitted that. Even the smile that James had at that time was Eric's smile. Sinister and full of lust of killing like one she had seen as Eric was killing the man, who had ambushed them in the middle of the Bon Temps Wood.

"James has a huge power in him, a power that can be very dangerous if he doesn't learn to control it. You see for yourself how easy it was for him to make the dogs listen to him. Dogs are two or three steps after wolves, what do you think will happen if he finds a way to reach the wolves' souls? I'll tell you something, Sookie. Cooper told me when they faced Northman at their first encounter, it was James who had told them to end the fight,"

"No, I think Cooper told you wrong. He didn't tell them, he asked them; I was there,"

"In your ears, perhaps, Sookie. But not in their ears. It was an order, they would not been able to refuse it, even if they had tried,"

"Goodness!" Sookie covered her mouth.

"Let him go to Beaumont with us, Sookie. Luna will be the least problem you have to worry about. Let him learn about our way, perhaps he will like it and decide to join us because even when Alcide is his wolf-father, his clan won't easily accept him knowing that his real father is a vampire,"

"What if James doesn't want to join your clan?"

"Then he has two werewolves who had sworn to protect him. Alcide and I. We have bonded ourselves with him. If, only if, Alcide or I want to harm him physically, our bonds will make sure that he will be protected from any harm and our attempts will be bounced,"

"Why would Alcide or you want to harm him? You do love him, don't you?"

"Love is a strong word and it's too early to be said, but yes, I like him. And I do want him to be a full member of my clan. About Alcide, I don't know. You have to ask him. One thing that I can tell you, you have a deadly son, Sookie. If he doesn't learn about himself early enough, in this case I mean learning about the ability that he possesses; he will put everybody in danger, including himself and perhaps, you,"

Sookie's hands, which were holding the cup was shaking, so hard that Colin had to hold them, otherwise the coffee would be spilled.

"Trust me, Sookie. It isn't as horrible as it sounds to be a werewolf and as an old wolf, I can teach him a lot. He needs somebody to show him the ways. The decision over which way he wants to take is all his, but at least he knows that there are ways to learn and to cope. He is a good boy and has a good nature. As much as I dislike saying this, I think the Sheriff is a good man and James is a damn lucky boy to have you as a mother. So please, I beg you, let him go to Beaumont and come with us if you still don't trust us,"

Later that day, James Stackhouse screamed on the top of his lungs when his mother told him that he was allowed to go to Beaumont with the Hounders. His mother was not even able to finish her sentence because he hugged her tight and said, "Thank you, Mom! I love you!" and then he bombarded her with kisses on her cheek, before he ran to upstairs screaming, "Beaumont, here I come!"


	30. Going To Beaumont

Twenty-Nine

**Going To Beaumont  
**

"Francesco didn't write much about Richardson," Eric put the journal on the table. "He mentioned his name only once. His Majesty – the King of Mississippi wished to get to know Richardson and talked about the possibility of having him and Richardson to work together. His Majesty wished to have a little palace as a wedding gift for the Queen of Louisiana and the King of Arkansas,"

"So it is possible that Leclreq Wellness Centre is the factory," said Alcide. His jaw moved. "And I've been looking for it everywhere,"

"You couldn't have known," said Eric.

"What are we going to do?" asked Colin. "I have to return to Beaumont. My people have to know what happened to my brother. I can stay there for four days and then come back here. I will do whatever it takes to find my brother's killer,"

"The best way is to go inside the building and look around," said Sookie. "I just don't know how,"

"I can register my spouse to stay there," Eric said. "So I can access the building,"

Everybody looked at him. Nobody seemed to believe that they heard what he had just said. Sookie's jaw dropped. Eric wanted to register her there, knowing that James was going to Beaumont with the Hounders tomorrow?

"Your spouse?" Colin asked in awe. "You mean Sookie?"

"No,"

"What?!"

"My spouse – or a spouse of a vampire, has to be over sixty to be registered there; or she or he has a severe health problem. Since Sookie is neither sixty nor having a severe health problem, I can't register her to stay there,"

Sookie thought that she was losing her mind to hear that. About whom was Eric talking?

"I am not sure if there will be a woman with a right mind to play this game," said Alcide.

"She doesn't have to be on the right mind,"

"You want to glamour her?"

"If I can't find one who is willing to do it,"

"What about Sam? Don't you think that he can access the whole place?" asked Colin.

"Let's just say, we have a way to deal with shifters," Eric said. For just a second, Sookie could see the disgust on his face. He really had no mercy toward Sam. She thought it was ridiculous. Eric should have been thankful to Sam that he had revealed his true self so that he did not need to continue playing games with her.

Which woman above sixty that she could trust....Grace Stones. No, she could not possibly ask her. Grace did not like vampires. For her, vampires were a strange and unknown concept of life, which was against all what she believed about after life. She was willing to continue working for the firm because she loved architectures and she needed the money. Actually, she was one of those people who refused to live side by side with vampires. Her whole behaviour towards vampires was apathetic. As long as she did not have to have any direct contact with them, she did not care. Vampires did not exist in her daily life.

"That woman," suddenly Colin said. "That woman who talked to me on the phone. She sounds like a woman in her sixties..."

"I don't know," Sookie said. "She doesn't like vampires,"

Eric smirked. "Does she? And who is she?"

"My secretary," Sookie said. "I could talk to her, but I am not sure about it. She _really_ doesn't like vampires," Sookie emphasized the word 'really' so that everybody could hear that Grace did not like vampires at all.

"Well, she's not the only one," Colin said. "It doesn't mean that she is not willing to work for you,"

"I don't know," again Sookie said. "James is going to Beaumont; I really don't want to leave him alone. No offence to you Colin, but I just want to make sure that everything is all right with him,"

"None taken," Colin said. "Perhaps you could go with us for a day or two, see for yourself that my place is secure, then you could return and talk to that woman,"

"Godric could accompany him," Eric said. "He listens to him,"

_James is not you, Eric. He doesn't have to obey Godric. _Sookie thought. _And I am sure James knows how to 'handle' Godric. _James had known Godric long enough, surely he knew how win over Godric's heart. _  
_

"Who is Godric?"

"A friend," said Eric.

"A vampire," Alcide said. "A very wise one. You'd better think twice before you want to play games with him, Colin. He could destroy your clan with his bare hands, if you tried. Ask the Black Claw of Mississippi if you didn't believe me,"

It was a warning, Sookie thought. Alcide wanted to tell Colin that once he invited Godric to come in, he'd better not take the invitation back.

"A friend of James is also a friend of mine," Colin said, but his eyes flickered. In his head he said. _We'll see about that._

"It's all up to you, Sookie. How to talk her into it," Eric said. "Of course, there's always another possibility. I could ask His Majesty – the King of Mississippi, but I rather avoid it. It's Louisiana's internal affairs, I'd prefer to keep it that way,"

Eric was speaking as the Sheriff of Area 5, now. His tone was very formal and Sookie knew, she'd better not challenge it.

"Not to us," Alcide said. "I'll talk to the Council before I can give you a clear decision about it. If the Council decides to attack the place, I can't say otherwise,"

"Fair enough," Eric said. "It's your territory, I'll try to keep that in mind,"

When the others were gone, Eric sat beside her. The study room became quiet; nothing to hear, but her own breath. "You don't seem to like the idea of asking your secretary," he said.

"That's not what I am thinking about. I am thinking about James. I don't like that he's going to Beaumont,"

"He will be accompanied by your brother and Godric will watch over him. You have nothing to worry,"

"What if they turn him into one of them?"

"Lover, don't you see how they treat him? I can sense their fear and respect every time James is around them. Werewolves are not a group of people who live without rules. They live in a pack; they live by the rules of the pack. I can see that Purefoy's pack is an old pack. They would not break the rules of their own pack because that's what they live for. Together they will live strong; alone they are as weak as a dry straw.

Fear not, my love. He chose to be a part of them; he will have to learn to live with them,"

"He is just a boy, Eric."

"In this uncertain time, every boy grows and lives fast. I prefer that he learns how to defend himself as early as possible, before it's too late. I am afraid, what is happening to the Queen now is just a beginning. Sooner or later we will live have to choose between returning to the old way, by drinking fresh blood or obeying the order of those who produce our food. I decided to return to the old way. As my son, James would have to carry the consequence too. Sooner or later they will know his real identity, and Lover, it's better if he is ready for it,"

Eric had spoken the truth; however, it did not make her feel better.

Eric took her into his arms and said, "Go to Beaumont, if you must. Or stay with Alcide as long as Colin is in Beaumont. You are not safe to be alone here. I will feel better if you are with Alcide during the day,"

"What about you?"

"I'll be with Pam during the day, and with you during the night,"

"Are you sure about me being with Alcide?"

"Yes. He can protect you better than any human I've known can. I don't trust him in many things, but in the question of your safety, I trust him completely,"

Sookie felt his body stiff. Eric did not like the idea of letting her with Alcide, but he knew that there was no other way. "Just don't be too comfortable to be with him. I might change my mind,"

He was jealous; he was just not willing to admit it.

Sookie kissed his cheek. "I think I'd better go to Beaumont, just to know where it is and then return here," she said with a heavy heart. The imagination of James and Luna being together was like a thorn in her side. Seeing her behaviour yesterday when James had been around her made Sookie sure that Luna would keep her words. Nevertheless, control was always better. Who knew that she would do something different behind her back.

She went to James' room, as Eric went to Fangtasia. He wanted to talk to Chow, he said. Business had to run as usual; and he wanted Chow to run it for him meanwhile he was not there.

Sookie decided to talk to James. She did not want to hide the facts that she knew how he felt about Luna. James had to know that she did not like it. She also wanted him to know the risk of entering such a clan like The Grey Hound. She would not try to stop him; he had to decide on his own, but she wanted him to consider it very carefully and not to rush or force himself to do something that he would regret later on.

James listened to her without saying any word. Sookie knew that her words affected him very much; she could see that he was thinking very hard.

"Some might give you the impression that you are very important for them, that you are their only hope. I just want you to feel comfortable with yourself. You are not a werewolf. In your blood might run one of the oldest wolf's blood, but you are not a werewolf. I don't want you to carry the burden of saving a clan, because the responsibility of saving a clan or an organization lies on each and every member. I want you to think slowly, take your time. Once you enter such a clan, you can't withdrawal it. Perhaps you could, but they would not let you go easily. Observe everything and learn carefully. You are still young, James. There are a lot of things that you still have to learn. I would prefer that you focus on your school, educate yourself and try to make your dreams come true than to be a full member of a werewolf clan.

I know, it sounds selfish, but at the end, you will be the one who has to live your life, not me or any other. The Grey Hound is an old clan. They live by the rules. Learn their rules first, before you decide to be one of them, and not before,"

"I never thought of that,"

"Baby, I know that you love your uncle and I know that you want to help him finding a place where he can live peacefully. But your uncle is a grown-up man, he is able to do that on his own....well, not really.." Sookie smiled as she saw James lifting his eyebrow. James knew that Jason was not exactly a matured man. "But you know what I mean. Your intention is good, but sometimes good intentions are not enough. Mostly they are misunderstood,"

"What if...if, I want to join? Do you agree?"

"I have to know their rules first before I can give you my blessing,"

"You know them..."

"People act differently when they are at home," Sookie said. "I have to know the real them first. Do you agree?"

"Yes, Momma. And if you don't like them?"

"Would you take a 'no' for an answer?"

James did not answer. His lips created a flat line. His eyebrows met in the middle. "It will be hard," he said after a while. "But I love you, Momma. I will never break your heart and do the things that you don't like,"

"Don't give promises that you can't keep. We will see about that, okay?"

James nodded.

"One other thing, I know that you like Detective Luna very much, just consider this, if something happens between you two, and the authority finds out about it, she can go to jail,"

His eyes were widened. "I...I..."

"You are fourteen years old, and she is twenty-five. You are a minor. If she does something sexual with you, she will commit a crime, which can send her to the jail. Is that what you want?"

James shook his head. "What if I am eighteen already?"

Sookie took his hands. "Do you really think she's worth it that you want to wait for four years of your life? You don't know anything about her. Don't you want to enjoy your school, going out with your friends without being afraid that some people might see you and report her to the police? Do you want to live in secrecy?"

James did not answer.

"I could forbid you to see her..."

"You wouldn't!" James cut her. "It's not fair if you do it,"

"I am not talking about fairness, I am talking about reality. As I was saying, I could forbid you to see her, but I know you. You would go behind my back and I don't want you to do that. I want no secret between us and that we could always talk about anything with each other. Can I trust you not to try to contact her in any means?"

James did not answer.

"Can I?"

"I like her, Mom. I really really like her; I can't stop thinking about her like _all _the time_. _I can't live without her,"

"O yes, you can," Sookie took him into her arms. She felt his whole body trembled. "You just have to breathe and your brain will take care of the rest. I thought I couldn't live without your father either, but I lived. It's just a matter of getting used to,"

"I don't like the sound of it," James sighed. "And I don't understand why I can't be with her. I don't harm anybody and she likes being with me. I can feel it. What is the difference if I am eighteen or younger? She will still be ten years older than me."

"There are reasons, I could quote them from my law books if you want, but for me, I want you to learn and focus about your school. I want you to enjoy your holiday, going places and seeing as many people as you can. Have fun! Don't tell me that you want to go to Beaumont only because Detective Luna wants to escort Colin,"

"Er…I always want to see where Godric's living,"

"You see, there are many things that you don't see yet. At Colin's ranch you can learn about farming or cattle breeding in natural way, riding horses and other things,"

James sighed. "But you don't hate her, do you, Mom?"

"I don't know her well enough to be able to say if I like her or not," she said.

James released her hug. He looked disappointed and sad, but he said, "I guess you're right," his voice was trembled. "I want her to be my girlfriend, but I don't want her to go to jail,"

Sookie wanted to hold him, but he refused it. "Could I be alone, please?" Sookie swore that she saw tears in his eyes. "I need to do some packing for tomorrow," he said.

Sookie nodded. "I'll accompany you to Beaumont, but I'll return in the evening,"

"Yeah, sure," he said.

Sookie got up and left the room. She heard a heavy sigh from inside and suddenly she felt sorry for having talked to him so harsh like that. On the other side, she was glad that she had done it. Now James knew exactly what she thought. He knew what kind of risks that Victoria had to face if he continued pursuing her. She hoped it would put a break in his efforts of pursuing her and he could focus on doing other things.

Sookie walked down the stairs. Bon Temps was really like a Pandora box. It gave her nothing but problems. She wondered how long she could stay in this god-forsaken town and she wondered if she could leave this town alive.

* * *

It was almost dawn when Eric returned from Fangtasia. Sookie had set her alarm clock to ring at three o'clock in the morning so that she could say goodbye to him. She made herself a cup of coffee and waited for him in the kitchen.

The yard was quiet. Some men passed by here and then, nodded at her when they saw her and continued walking.

Sookie accompanied him going down to his vault. "Go to Dallas and wait for me there," he said, as Sookie helped him removing his green shirt. Softly she touched his nipples. She liked to see those goose bumps around them. "We see each other at Godric's place,"

"I don't know Godric's address," she took the liberty to open his jeans and slipped her hands inside his black briefs, softly pressing his ass.

"James knows," his eyes looked tired, but he was smirking. His mouth was half open and Sookie could see his fangs were out, "What have I done to deserve this?" he stopped her hands from being taken out.

"A little variation...or do you prefer a normal good-night kiss?"

Eric kissed her. "No, I like it this way," he touched her arms with his fingertips. "Pity that I have to sleep, otherwise it would be the first time that I had a woman in my coffin,"

"I take it as an invitation," Sookie took her hands out of his briefs.

"Goodnight, Lover," smiling, he climbed into his coffin. "You should sleep too. I want you to stay alert during your journey to Beaumont,"

Sookie kissed his nose, "Goodnight, Eric," she turned off the light and left the vault.

Sookie had managed to have four hours sleep before James knocked her door. His eyes were puffy and red. He must have been crying or not able to sleep last night. Duke – his blue Doberman followed him around, shook his docked tail and from time to time licked his hand. As if he knew that his master was not in a happy mood that morning.

The Hounders were also ready. Coming with them was Prescott. The faery wore plaid shirt and jeans. His long blond hair was tied into a horsetail, showing his pointed ears. Doc gave him a cap. "It's better if you stay unnoticed," he said.

But Colin told him to sit beside James. He felt much better if there was somebody else in the car that knew how to fight. Just in case they were under attack, he could focus on the street and Prescott could help him protect James. A faery was as good as any werewolf, he said, which was answered by Prescott's snorting.

Alcide asked Jack to go with them to Beaumont. "He's James' guardian," he said. "He answers only to me. He doesn't have to follow Colin's orders if he thinks that his orders are against mine."

"Thank you, Alcide," Sookie said.

"When will you return?"

"Tomorrow. I'll meet Eric in Dallas tonight, then I will go to your place. Eric wants me to be with you during the day, if it's okay with you,"

Alcide smiled. "It would be my pleasure, Sookie. Take care of yourself,"

To her surprise, Jason came with Luna. "Andy thought it would be better if I went with her in the same car," he said. "You know, who knows who she will contact along the way. He wants me to work as his spy," he smiled.

As much as she did not want Luna to be with James, Sookie believed that Luna would not do anything that would harm James. She could see how both of them tried to avoid having eye contact. James kept himself busy listening to his iPod or playing with Duke, whilst he was waiting for everybody to get set and Luna, if she did not talk to Jason, then she leaned on the car door and read her notebook.

Somehow, Sookie did not know how, she felt her heart heavy. She knew she had done the right thing by telling James in clear words the risk that he or Luna would have to face if they forced themselves to pursue their feelings. Still the moodiness that was hanging clearly on his eyes made her heart ache.

Sookie looked at the reflection of James' face on the rear mirror. His eyes were at the woods, which looked like running to the other reaction, left them behind. They looked blurry and far away. As the cars and the bikes were moving out of the Bon Temps Wood, Sookie saw that those eyes were getting harder and harder. And when their eyes finally met, Sookie saw the lights on that blue eyes, the lights that she had seen many times when James had made up his mind on something.

_I'll be all right, Mom. _His head told her. _Don't worry. Everything is cool, now._

Sookie smiled at him. Yeah...everything was all right, but why did her heart tell her something else?


	31. News From Debbie

**Author's Note: I was listening to _I botten på glaset _from Bo Kaspers Orkester; and suddenly I felt I could understand what Alcide had been going through a little bit better.**

Thirty

**News From Debbie  
**

Alcide watched the cars until they were disappeared.

Sookie and James were gone now. It was strange, but he felt something missing. They had not been around long enough, and yet, they managed to fill his life like nobody had done before. It was nonsense, and he knew it. He had some women before and after Sookie had come into his life, if he wanted, he could take one of the women in the clan to be his wife or mistress, but why did he always have the feeling that none of them would fill his life he imagined that Sookie would?

His cell phone vibrated. He took it out of his pocket: a message from Sam. _'I am going in. Pick me up at nine,'_

Sam was going to go inside the Leclreq building. He had to send two of the boys to guard the spot where Sam left his belongings.

Sometimes Alcide thought that Sam and he himself were twins. They did many things together and always fell in love with the same women. At high school, it was Alicia, Celine and then Debby. He had been engaged with Debby and Sam had moved on with Lydia or Karin, he was not sure. Then Sookie. Sam had broken up with his girlfriend to chase Sookie. His relationship with Debbie had been always on the rock because of her jealousy. He could not even talk to a woman without ending up fighting with Debby, and then came along Sookie. Like the last straw, Sookie's appearance had broken his relationship with Debbie. Of course, it was not her directly, it was more he, who finally said it quit.

The last time he had seen Debby was five years ago, when she moved out to New York to pursue her career in some kind of advertising agency. Last night she had called him and wanted to see him at Lafayette's Café. She wanted to talk to him about something urgent, but she did not say what it was. Typical Debby. She liked to hang him on a thread, make him curious and then perhaps she would reveal what she wanted, or left him dry and annoyed.

Alcide told four of his men to stay at the mansion meanwhile he was going down town. His sister and her children went with him. He did not want them to stay there, not without Sookie. He wondered why Eric wanted her to stay at the Haven. Did Eric know something that he didn't or was Eric worried about Sookie's safety? Eric Northman, the vampire, who treated human like a piece of dirt, was worried about a human. That was something new.

"We go to Lafayette's, first. I have to meet somebody," he said. "Debby," he continued when he saw Janine looking at him.

"What does she want?"

"She doesn't say,"

"She never says," Janine gave him a frowned look. "And you always have to jump every time she barks,"

"She said it was important and she sounded concern. Who knows it might be something really important,"

"I don't like her; I've been telling you that,"

"Yeah, yeah. And I've kept on hearing that,"

"You should have tried harder with Sookie," she said, sighing. "You wasted fourteen years of your life! Now Northman is here, your chances are zip,"

"Don't be so ungrateful," Alcide said. "Northman helped you a lot. Show a little bit gratitude,"

"Yeah, I still don't like him," Janine said. "I will regret it if James can't stay here and protect his cousins. You have to make sure that he stays here. Don't let Colin steal him from you,"

Alcide looked at her, astonished. "What are you talking about?"

"He will make James a Hounder, mark my word. With a blood bond or by giving him what Sookie wants: a new girlfriend for him. If he becomes a Hounder, he won't be here and he won't be able to protect my children,"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Alcide said. "James will not leave us, I can promise you that. And what do you mean with a new girlfriend? James doesn't have a girlfriend yet, does he?"

"Don't you see how he glares at Detective Luna? Believe me; something has happened when they were together in the woods. Doc doesn't want to tell me anything, but I am a woman and a mother. I have eyes. I would have done the same thing that Sookie does if I were her. I wish we had a chance to introduce James to some of our nieces. It would be nice if he married one of them,"

Alcide could not believe to hear what his sister had just said. "He is not even graduated from his school and you think about matching him with one of our nieces?"

"Well," Janine looked at her children, who slowly were dosing away. "He doesn't have to marry her next year, but it would be nice to know if he has eyes on them. I would like to have him for Alicia, if you ask me,"

Alcide laughed. Alice was only two years old. Janine could wait for as long as she wanted. James would have had his little own 'Alices' at the time Alicia reached the werewolf adult years. As a girl, Alice would be considered an adult in her fourteenth year. Alice was a werewolf. Her body was covered with rough black fur when she had been born. She carried the traits from Yellowstone Werewolves, whilst Bobby, Janine's first born had not shown the werewolf signs yet. They had to wait until he was ten years old to see if he was a werewolf or not. Children who were born with werewolf signs were normally stronger than the ones who showed the signs later on. Alice was a strong girl, not only physically but also mentally. She could be the female alpha wolf as she was bigger. Alcide had to keep an eye on her and trained her early enough to prepare her, just in case she became the leader of the clan.

"I know, it's a silly thought," Janine's face was red. "But a mother can expect the best thing for her children, can't she?"

"Yeah, but not that kind of thing, Janine. Don't worry about James! He'll be fine," Alcide said, trying to cover his own feelings. He did not like the idea that James went to Beaumont with Colin, but he also knew that to gain James' trust he had to show him that he could trust him of making big decision on his own. The journey to Beaumont was important for James' status in the clan. If the Grey Hound clan accepted him without any question, James' position in Long Tooth Clan would be better. Together with James, he could influence the result of the werewolves' grand meeting at the Square Stone.

They stopped at a block away from Lafayette's Café. "You stay here," Alcide said. It was not a good idea to take her to the Café. Janine could not stand Debbie and if Debbie really had something important to tell him; they would end up snapping each other and the information that might be useful would be thrown out of the window.

Lafayette looked pale and tired as Alcide was entering the Café.

"Are you okay, Lafayette?" he asked. "You don't look so good,"

"Not enough sleep," he answered. "Your friend is here. She looks like she was going to attend a funeral,"

Alcide smiled. Lafayette did not like Debbie either. "Sorry to hear that. Where is she?"

"Table 5 E" he said. His voice changed into a happy voice when he greeted his customers. "Hi Hon, you look fab to day! Excuse me, Alcide," then he left him to join his customers and took them to their table.

Table 5 E was at the very corner of the special counter. Lafayette divided his Café into three areas. Area one was the area for common visitors. This area was for anybody who wanted to sit drinking some coffee and had nice meals. He put letter 'C' behind the table numbers. Area two was the people who made reservation first. The letter 'R' was for this area. And the last one was the 'E' area. 'E' as for 'Exclusive', an area, which was strictly for family, friends and people he trusted. Alcide had been one of the members since fifteen years ago, after the fight inside Bon Temps wood.

"Hi, Al!" Debby stood up to greet him. She looked....different. She wore a suit, her red hair was rolled behind her head, a pair of glasses sat on her nose and she did not wear her usual make-up (black thing around her eyes, black lipstick and god knows what else she put on her face). Age had treated her nicely.

Alcide hugged her. "You look good," he said honestly.

"Thank you,"

They sat down.

After ordering a cup of coffee, Debby went straight to the point. She took out a folder and gave it to him.

"What is this?"

"Open it?"

Alcide opened the folder. Inside was a piece of paper with a picture of a True Blood bottle. He looked at her. "I don't see anything new," he said.

"Read the label,"

Alcide looked at picture closely. True Blood...the usual bla, bla, bla of how good True Blood was as the replacement for blood, which contained the good things what blood had, still could be consumed by human. Also suitable for those who had suffered from weres' bites.

Alcide frowned. _Also suitable for those who had suffered from weres' bites_ "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know that I work for this advertising agency in New York, don't you?"

"Yes,"

"I am going to marry the owner in three months,"

"Congratulation! That's a good news."

"Thank you. We had a huge deal last month," her voice was getting lower. "For the latest product of True Blood, the one that the producers believe can also cure the symptoms of weres' bite. My fiancée knows that I am a were and he knows that I am from Shreveport. He supports this campaign because he wants me to be a normal human one day,"

"What is so important of being from Shreveport?"

"Alcide, don't you know that Shreveport has the biggest numbers of werewolves in America?" her eyes were bigger. "You must have known that!"

Yes, he knew that fact. Shreveport had a very important position in the Great Werewolves Council, because it had the most members of representatives in the council. He never thought that fact was also known outside werewolves' community.

"Imagine what would happen if they could also cure us!"

"The pure blood can't be reversed. I am not even sure if the bitten ones can be reversed,"

"What if they can, I mean the scientists, what if they find the cure for us?"

"What are you saying, Debbie? I thought you were proud to be a were!"

Debbie played with her cup. "I am just afraid if one day we will be hunted down and hated like the vampires when they first came out of their coffins, if we ever take off our fur,"

"We will not 'take off our furs', not until the Great Council declares it. Seeing what happened these days, I am sure we will stay hidden for a long time,"

"What happened these days?"

"You didn't know?"

Debbie shook her head.

Alcide told her about the murders of some werewolves in Louisiana, but he skipped the part where Simon had changed into a half-life.

"It would be better for all of us, if we all tell the world about our existence. Once we take that step, the rest will only be good for us. The human will have to declare that they are either against us or with us. The consequence is clearer for us. I hate living in hiding like this. I want to be able to show my fiancée's family who I really am. I hate to get away from him when the moon comes because he can't take me anywhere and he is so afraid that I might bite him. I want to be free, Alcide. I want us all to be free," Debbie took his hand. "Please, join and work with me. The others always listens to you. Perhaps, if you agree, the others will agree too,"

Debby's words rang in his head, even when he lied down his body to sleep. It had been almost an hour that he was laying on his bed, but he was not able to switch his mind off. He had other things to think about, he kept telling himself. Sam had called him around ten. He said, he had seen some parts of the building, but there was nothing significant. He had to enter the ground again tomorrow. It was too risky for Sam. He did not want him to enter the ground. Perhaps Eric had told the truth, the vampires had a way to notice when a shifter entered their ground. Perhaps they should wait until Sookie managed to convince her secretary to work for them. Sam insisted to do it again, one more time, before Sookie returned to Bon Temps. He did not want to be responsible of putting an old woman in danger.

Alcide sighed. Sam was right. Any collateral damage should be avoided, wherever they could. His thought ran again to Debbie. She sounded worried; he had never seen Debbie act that way. She must have really loved her fiancée and wanted to settle down. He understood the feeling. He also wanted to find a woman of his own and settled down. Somehow, he also wanted to be able to tell everybody about who he really was. He did not have to go to the woods every time the full moon appeared on the sky. He wanted to be able to stay in his fur, everywhere at any time, without somebody being afraid or staring at him as if he came from Mars or something.

A wonderful dream, if it could come true.

A soft knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. "Who is it?" he asked.

"It's me, Ken. Your father wants you to see you, Alcide,"

"Coming," he got up and put his jeans on. He looked at the watch. It was almost in the middle of the night. In Dallas, Sookie must have been sleeping now or perhaps not, if she was with Eric. Back at Northman's place, he used to walk under her window, just to make sure that she was okay. He loved to catch the smell of her perfume. Many times, he just turned around and walked away, as soon as he heard Eric's voices. He could imagine what they were going to do; he did not need to hear the sounds that they were just about to make. But in the morning, when the sun was rising, he used to stand under the window for some minutes, to catch her smell and to listen to the rhythm of her breathing. He knew, Eric would not suck her dry, but he just wanted to be sure.

In the living room were his father, Keane from Hot Springs and Thompson from the Black Claw. They were all looking at him curiously. Something had happened; he did not know what, but he did not like it.

"We heard what happened the other day," Thompson said. "People in silver suits attacked Northman's ground,"

Alcide did not say anything. He did not want to encourage them to go further.

"That's what happened in Baton Rouge too," Thompson continued. "I heard that Tom Rodney had been killed also by men in silver suits,"

Bad news spread fast.

"And I heard about your son," Keane's voice was low, but in Alcide's ears, it was like a thunder: loud and painful.

"What about him?"

"You have to introduce him at the Square Stone, Alcide. We have to know if he is good or dangerous for us,"

"I don't have to do anything," Alcide said. "He is still underage; he doesn't have to follow the rules, yet."

"Soon he will be," Thompson said. "The sooner we know about him, the better it is,"

"For whom?" Alcide got alerted. "You know that he is Colin's brother, you have to ask him too,"

"Not from what I've heard." Keane said. "He is not yet accepted by his clan. It's all up to you, Alcide,"

"And his mother," Alcide said. Sookie's face danced in front of him. He did not want to make her angry. If she were angry, he would not only have to face Sookie, but also Eric.

Thompson raised his face. "That woman," his brown eyes flickered. "Northman's woman..." his voice growled; his canine teeth were getting bigger.

"You touch her, you will have to face Northman and me," Alcide looked at him. "Trust me; you don't want to have Northman as an enemy. Or are you not able to learn from the past, how his maker almost wiped out the whole members of your clan?"

Thompson sneered. "You are too absorbed in this situation, Alcide. You don't use your brain any more!"

Alcide was slowly rising, but his father's hand stopped him.

"Gentlemen," his father cut in. "The boy will soon be an adult. Whether he is a member of Grey Hound or stay as my human grandson, he still has to be introduced at The Grand Gathering at the Square Stone. He knows about us, he has to learn the rules. Be patient, his time will come,"

"The time is running against us, Jackson," said Keane. "Whoever that we are facing know about our weakness. They don't kill in secret any more; how long do you think it will take them to announce to the world about our existence? I know how the human mind works. They will twist the fact around and we will be the preys. I have a wife and children. My boys are werewolves. I'll be damned if I have to run and leave them unprotected. And I don't know what I will do if they harm my boys,"

The room became quiet.

Debby's words rang again inside his head. If they could cure the bitten ones and perhaps one day, they would also be able to cure the werewolves...would he work together with her?

"I know my clan's words are not worth in your ears," Thompson said. The eyes of the leader of the Black Claw flickered. "But if it's up to me, I will fight. I won't let them dictate how to live my life. I will declare my real identity only and only when I want to and not a single second earlier,"

The Black Claw's words were worthless due to their reputation. You could buy them with money and booze, they said. They even would stab you in the back if they had a higher bidder. But tonight, Alcide saw the lights of a werewolf in Thompson's eyes, a werewolf whose pride was high and who would not give in easily.

"What if, what if what he heard about the new True Blood was true?" Alcide asked. "What if they could control our blood?"

"What if they could control us?" Keane asked. "What if, they put substances in their True Blood so that they could control us? Imagine this, if they are able to control the transformation of a bitten one, they must have found something in the blood, locate them, and lock them. They might destroy or manipulate them – you know; control the factor's behaviour. If they are able to control the factors that influenced the changing of cells and genes, don't you think they will also find a way to control the source itself?"

"I don't think that I understand you," said Alcide.

"Let's just say that we want to make a colour. I take 'green' as an example. To make 'green', you have to mix yellow with blue. How green the colour you want to have depends on how much blue you put inside. The less blue, the brighter the green is. Now, imagine that pure blood werewolf is blue and human is yellow. If they find out the way to separate the blue part from the green colour, it also means that they are able to make the green colour brighter or darker as they want. Now, think about it, if they are able to do that – to weaken or to destroy the werewolf blood from the bitten ones; are you sure that they will not be able to do the same thing to us – the pure blood. What if they also find a way to influence our blood, to destroy us and to control us?"

The room, again, became quiet.

Keane's thought was scary, but could be right. If the human were able to control the werewolves, then the fate of the werewolves' clan would go down to the sewer.

"Do you think that this new True Blood exists?" asked Thompson.

Alcide wanted to answer, but his father cut him in. "We don't know," he said. "We are still looking for further information," His father was lying. Of course, they know that the new True Blood existed. They were even in the process of investigating the Leclreq Wellness Centre; however, it seemed that his father did not keen to share that information to them.

"What was it about, actually, the fight that happened on Northman's ground?" asked Thompson.

"Vampires' matters," said Alcide.

Keane stood up. "I have to return to the Hot Springs. I have to tell my clan the news and try to contact Colin. I have to get to know your son, Alcide. I have to see the boy with my own eyes. The news I heard about him doesn't bring peace to my mind,"

"What news?" Alcide asked. He pretended the best he could not to show that he cared.

"The Boy with The Dogs, that's how they call him. I heard that he could put the dogs under his spell," Keane looked at Alcide; his eyes were narrowing.

"You heard wrong," Alcide said. "Colin and the others were with him. They were the ones who lured and trapped the dogs and gave the dogs with their strange stuff from their farm," Alcide was surprised to hear how calm he was whilst he was lying.

"Still, I have to see him," Keane said. "Right or wrong, it will be interesting to get to know the boy who was chosen by Colin Purefoy as his brother. We all know that it's not possible for a stranger to enter their ground let alone to be the member of his clan. And now all of sudden, he doesn't only take a boy as his brother – a boy, whose mother is a fangbanger; but he's also willing to stay at their house and act like he was their dog,"

Alcide almost jumped on his throat to hear him calling Sookie 'a fangbanger', but the look at his father stopped him.

"You have met her, Keane," Thompson said. "Don't tell me that you couldn't see how the vampires reacted to her! It is difficult to tell what Northman feels or thinks, but I – for one, am able to notice that the boy's mother means a lot to him. She is not a fangbanger only; she has Northman in her hand. A woman who is able to own Northman is a woman who should be cautiously observed. Don't underestimate her, or you will regret it,"

Roy Thompson lived almost all of his life on the street. Nothing escaped from his observation. He was not well-liked among the werewolves, but he had been rarely wrong. He always managed to escape from the danger or the mess that he had created. He must have had good instincts that kept him alive.

"What should we do, now?"

"I'd say," Jackson said. "We can try to have the Grand Gathering earlier. The Great Council can make decisions faster and we all can see this boy sooner than anybody expected, even Colin. If the other clans agree to have the Great Council earlier than what we plan, Colin will not be able to refuse it. What do you think, Alcide? You are his father; it's all up to you,"

Alcide bit his tongue. He did not believe that his father had put him in this situation. He could not make decisions about James on his own. Sookie would be furious if she knew this; moreover, he had to face Eric's wrath! He was not afraid of Eric; he was more afraid of losing Sookie forever.

"Alcide?" Keane sniffed. That werewolf from Hot Springs sensed his fear. He had to be more careful.

"Let me think about it," finally he said. "This is a difficult matter. I don't want to rush into anything,"

"I give you two days," Thompson said. "If you can't make a decision of your own, maybe you should give it to somebody who can," he looked at Jackson. "Your father seems to be capable of,"

"Don't push your luck, Thompson," Alcide said. "You're my guest; don't make me change my mind,"

Thompson sneered. "Perhaps, another time, Alcide,"

Long after his guests had been gone, Alcide called Sookie. Her voice sounded sleepy when she answered. "Give me Eric, please. I need to talk to him,"


	32. One Night in Dallas

**Author's Note: To Allan Hyde. **

Thirty-one

**One Night in Dallas  
**

That face showed nothing, when the owner was talking to Alcide via telephone. Alcide would have not called him, if it had not been something important. But here he was, laying on the bed with her, putting his arms around her, saying short words with expression...Eric's expression. Nothing. There was no changing line on his face; the signs of being angry, curious or interested. Nothing.

He switched off the phone. "I knew it," he hissed. "Those low-life werewolves will take advantages in any way they can," Softly he took his arms from under her head and then he got down from the bed.

"I am so tired," Sookie complained. It took around 5 hours from Bon Temps to Beamount. To the Beaumont City itself, it took four hours and then around 1 hour crossing the wide plain. Then, she had to go to Dallas to meet Eric. Her back had been painful and her ass had hurt. Eric had given her massage, _opened _the knots from her body. The pain was gone, but then she became tired and sleepy; made her unable to tell him what she had seen at the ranch. "I don't want to leave the bed,"

"You don't have to," he said. "I'll talk to Godric. You can stay here,"

"Oh, no, you don't," she said. "And no, I won't stay here,"

Godric's place was like a little palace. It had two floors and each floor had high ceiling. Different from Northman Mansion, Godric's place was rough. Every part of his place seemed to be calculated in precisions. Most of them looked like some kind of geometrical shapes and every shape was reflected. What amazed her the most was the colour. Godric was not afraid playing with colours. His house was painted in bright yellow and blue, and inside he had some paintings of women, animals and buildings, all of them in bright colour and glamorous! Hector Guimard had built his house in 1894, Eric said, before Guimard became a famous architect and a leading figure in Art Deco movement. And Godric had been a very close friend to Tamara de Lempicka, when she had still lived in French. "Who?" she asked. "The one who painted that picture," Eric pointed at a picture of a woman in bright blue colour, a beautiful redheaded woman, wearing a hat and a blue dress, which floated, following the shape of the body. Godric loved redheaded women, Niall once said. In real life or in painting.

Eric put on her robe. He lifted her and with one leap, they were already in front of Godric's room.

"Enter," Godric's voice was heard before Eric knocked on the door.

Eric opened the door and let Sookie in first. He nodded at Godric who was sitting at the table, reading a letter.

"From Aurora," his pale face was bright. His big pale grey eyes were sparkling. "She will return in a week,"

"How is she?" Sookie asked.

"She is fine; she misses Louisiana and you," his smile was wider. "And me,"

_Of course._

Godric folded the letter carefully and then put it inside a plain box with little diamond shapes around its upper part. "What is it that is bothering you, my child?"

Sookie still could not get rid off the weird feeling to hear Godric calling Eric 'my child'. Eric looked at least twice older than Godric, especially now. Godric was wearing a t-shirt with a picture of three wolves howling at the moon. He looked like a high school freshman; and the grins that did not leave his face yet made him look even younger. And Eric, with his green shirt and jeans, looked like a young executive of a bank or a company. If there was somebody who had the need to call somebody else 'my child' then it would be Eric to Godric; not the other way around.

"I have to leave Dallas tonight," Eric said. "Something came up in Shreveport, which makes me not certain what to do about Sookie and James,"

Sookie looked at Eric. "What are you talking about?"

"The werewolves want to see James in their gathering," Sookie could hear the sound of disgust in his voice. "He is not ready to be known as my son,"

"And what do you want, Sookie?"

Sookie was surprised to hear Godric asking her what she wanted. She thought Godric would agree with any decision that Eric took. "Alcide told me about the Grand Gathering, but I thought they would hold it next month,"

"They gave Alcide two days to think about," Eric said.

"I don't want him to go through with it," said Sookie. "And I'll kill Alcide if he lets that to happen,"

"Alcide can't do anything against it. If his own clan's council demands him to let other werewolves to see James, he must obey," Godric said.

Eric growled. His fangs were out and his eyes flickered dangerously. Sookie felt so small in front of them. Godric with his calmness, sitting at the table, had a strange aura around him. A wall that was not easily to break through; different from what she saw on André, Godric's wall was more soothing, made her feel safe. Eric was in rage, she could feel it. She should have stopped Alcide from claiming James as his son, she should have made it all stop by returning to Baton Rouge.

Godric moved his index finger and Eric stopped growling. His fangs sunk and he let himself fall on the sofa. Eric's reaction almost made Sookie's jaw drop. Luckily, she stopped it in time. Eric behaved like a little child – or more like a slave to his master. Any gesture from Godric was a law for him, which he obeyed without questioning.

"My child, sooner or later, James will be known as your son; and in this uncertain time, it will be sooner than later, I am afraid," he looked at Eric softly. "What do you want to do?"

"I have to go to Alcide," said Eric. "I have to talk to him,"

_Rip off his throat_ would be a more appropriate answer, Sookie thought.

"Somebody has to talk to Bill," said Godric, ignoring Eric. "Somebody has to find out who attacked him,"

And that somebody meant her. Sookie knew Godric well enough to guess what he wanted. He was rarely straight to the point, he always tried to make that it was not his idea but the idea of those who listened to him – at least that was what Dušana-Aurora said. More or less, she agreed with her.

"You don't seem to care about James, Father," Eric said. His voice was low.

"Of course, I do." A smile was on Godric's face, but his eyes were cold. Eric looked at him for a moment, and then lowered his stares. "James is at the point of crossing now. It's entirely up to him to embrace the wolf blood that he has in him or to become a normal human. Not so normal, I presume; since we all know that Sookie is not entirely human, but it will all be up to him,"

"You want us to let him stay among the werewolves and do nothing when they exhibit him like a piece of meat?!" Her sleepiness and fatigue were gone now. Slowly her blood was rising. She was getting angrier when she saw that Eric did not do anything about it. He just sat there and listen. "Well, not with me, Mister! He is my son and I will do anything necessary to protect him!" she turned around and wanted to leave the room, but Eric was already in front of her.

"Godric is not finished talking yet," he said. His figure looked menacing. He was Godric's slave. He would listen and do whatever Godric told him to.

"Back off," she said. "Don't stand between me and my son,"

His head moved like a snake. "He is my son too,"

"Then tell everybody and face the risk! Don't hide in your coffin!"

'Click'! His fangs were out; his eyes flickered dangerously aiming at her neck.

"Don't you ever dare showing your fangs to me!" Sookie felt her head was just about to explode. "Unless you mean to use them!"

Eric moved his head so fast that she could not follow it with her eyes. Soon she felt his fangs on her neck, so close that she could feel as if somebody stitched her with a needle, but not close enough to cause any damage. He raised his head and moved some steps backward. "Women!" he hissed. "When will they use their heads? Thousand years of living and they do not change a single bit!"

"Children, don't behave like an old married couple," Godric said. "Have a seat, Sookie. Please. Forgive me if I sounded as if I didn't care about James. You know that I do,"

Sookie turned around to face Godric. Slowly she sat on the sofa. Eric did not move from his spot, standing beside the door with his arms hanging beside his body. From the corner of her eyes, Sookie saw his hands formed like claws. Eric was furious, at whom, Sookie was not sure. Perhaps at her, perhaps at Godric. Frankly, she did not care.

"I am telling you the truth, Sookie." Godric said. "He has to decide for himself what he wants to do. He has the privilege that many werewolves' children do not. His wolf blood is very old; he might look young, but among his kind, he is the oldest. He is not a werewolf and will never be. The werewolves will not be able to turn him either because his blood is stronger than any of them. If he decides to live among the human, his wolf blood will be pushed aside and he will loose all his ability of communicating with the wolves. But if he decides to be one of them, then it would be better if he knew how to use his ability. A mighty and absolute power like what James has is never good, but it's still better that it's controlled than to let it take control over you.

Don't worry, Sookie. He will be safe there. The Grey Hound is a good clan, they keep their promises and they are well respected among their kind. Any other clan will think twice before they decide to attack them.

Now, our problem is the new True Blood. I fear that the future will not be so kind to us any more, if the new True Blood replaces the old ones. Let's assume that what happens to the Queen has something to do with the new True Blood, what do you think will happen to the younger vampires?" That old vampire looked gloomy. "We have to find out what happens to The Queen of Louisiana,"

"...and Bill," Eric continued. His voice was back to normal and his hands were relaxed again. It seemed that he could get over his anger already. "We have to know who attacked him because I believe it has something to do with it,"

Those vampires had problems of their own: The new True Blood. Eric was sure that the Queen's condition was influenced or caused by drinking the new True Blood. Bill and André had been attacked by people in silver suits, who probably had something to do with the new True Blood. It seemed like everything was connected to it. In the meantime, her son was somewhere out there with a bunch of people who could turn into wolves and she was here, in between; and somehow had to choose whether she went back to Beaumont or went straight to Shreveport as planned.

"I can understand that you are worried about James," said Godric. "I'll watch over him and I'll make sure that he will not do something that he might regret later. Let him find his own way, you can't protect him the whole time. He has to deal with himself, eventually. We can only show him the way. As far as I can tell, you have given him a strong base in his character. Now it's all up to him how he will develop from there.

Probably, you want to take him out of The Grey Hound land, I can understand if you want to do it too. But don't you think it's all up to him?"

"He will stay there all right," said Sookie. "Luna is there, he will stay there,"

"Luna?"

"A shifter," Eric said. "He wants her,"

A smile was on Godric's face. "It would be interesting to get to know her," he said. "Does she want him too?"

What was it with vampires? Why did they use the word 'want' or 'claim', but not 'like' or 'love'? Didn't they have those feelings any more? And of course Luna wanted him! She was as horny as James!

"I see," said Godric; he seemed to understand her mimics. "I'll talk to her, a good shifter will be very handy for James and you, Sookie. I'll ask her to watch over him for me. Watching over him," he continued quickly when he saw her opening her mouth. "Only that. I'll make sure that she will not do anything else,"

"Why don't I trust you?" Sookie looked at Godric. "You hid Eric for fifteen years, teaching my son your language..."

"His father's language..."

"Whatever. How can I be so sure that you don't let him do what he wants?"

"You can't," his grey eyes were soft. "I am sorry if you are still angry with me about Eric. I did it for both of you. If you had known that Eric was still alive, you would have not moved on with your life. Eric would have not been able to face himself as a half-life. He would have killed himself and I am certain as much as you despised him, you did not want him to kill himself,"

On second thought, maybe she would. Maybe she could go on with her life and she did not have to deal with them any more. She could raise her son like a normal human being, a normal American kid who did not speak a language she did not understand!

"What do you want me to do?" asked Sookie after a while. She was not sure if she could trust Godric completely, but Godric loved James, she was sure about it, and James loved him too. James would listen to him. If Godric watched over him, at least she could be sure that James would be safe. About Luna, she could only hope that Luna would keep her words. If not, she would not hesitate about reporting her to her superior.

"Return to Bon Temps and help us from there. You have a good connection with human and the werewolves, perhaps also with the faery. You can move better than the rest of us during the day, you will figure out what to do, Sookie."

"I'll do it," she said.

"Good. Leave James to me. He'll be safe,"

Without saying anything, Sookie left the room. She would return to Louisiana early in the morning tomorrow and go straight the haven. She had to talk to Alcide seriously. She had to wash that man's head!

Eric had been already in the room as she opened the door. She must have been deep in her thought that she had not seen or felt his movement. He walked towards her.

"Don't touch me!" Sookie said. "I am angry with you!"

"Sookie..."

"I don't want to hear it! You bared your fangs at me! Who do you think I am? Your whore that would obey and do what is told?! And if not you threaten me with your fangs?! Do you think you can impress me with them?!"

Eric moved closer.

"Don't you dare touching me or I'll scream!" It was useless to scream anyway because nobody would hear, except Godric. But Godric would certainly smile only and do nothing about it. But Eric had to know that she meant it.

Eric stopped and slowly got down on his knees. "I've never felt like this before," his voice was low and trembling. "Helpless and didn't know what to do. I want to go to Beaumont and tear down that place, take James out of there and bring him back to Bon Temps. But I also want to be with you, return to Bon Temps, to our house and continue our planning. I can't decide and it scares me," his hands were reaching out. "Feeling your fear and confusion made me more and more confused...I also feel James' agony of wanting Luna...I am losing control over my own feeling...it is new to me and it scares me."

Eric looked so fragile on that position. He looked like a confused teenager who did not know what to do. Somehow, it calmed her down a little bit. It was weird, but she liked seeing him like now. He was not that cold emotionless Sheriff of Shreveport; he was Eric Northman, a father – who was worried about his son; a man, who wanted to take everything that he loved away from danger.

"I am sorry. I won't do it again," he said. "Unless I mean to use them," he looked at her. His blue eyes were blurred. He was about to cry. "The way I used them...to please you,"

This was the first time she heard Eric apologizing. She could just run into his arms and cover him with her kisses, but her pride stopped her. She did not want that Eric forgot this moment too soon, but she also did not want him to stand on his knees too long. Slowly she walked towards him and let her body being hugged by Eric.

"From all the women I've known, I am glad that you are the one who gives me a son," he said, putting his head on her stomach, holding her tighter.

Sookie removed his hair from his face. "Why?"

"Because you are stubborn, reckless and drive me crazy with your boldness,"

"It sounds like you admire me,"

Eric smirked. "That too," he said. "You are too proud! You yielded to me because you wanted to and not because I wanted to. You have wasted a lot of time because of it!"

"You do admire me," her anger was gone. "_You_ are _my_ lover and not the other way around,"

Eric stood up, lifted her and put her on the bed. Instead of arousing her, he tickled her. Sookie laughed and tried to fight him back, but he was too strong for her. He did not stop tickling her until she was out of breath because of laughing and screaming and finally begged him to stop. He laid down beside her and took her into his arms.

"When will you go?" he asked. His voice was again serious.

"Early in the morning," she said.

"You go to Alcide's?"

"Yes,"

"I will go to Baton Rouge tomorrow; I have to see the Queen. Bill probably will go to Pam's. I will ask Pam to pick you up from the haven and you can sleep at Pam's,"

"Will Bill be all right? Do you know how to cure him?"

"I don't know. Silver poisoning means dead for us..."

"Can't you just drain him, the way Wilson did to you, and then fill his body with new blood?"

"He could die,"

"You didn't,"

"I had somebody else holding the thread. I had you, Godric, Pam and Boris. We were bonded by a spell, in which Boris gave his life to tie it. Bill has nobody. Yes, he has his maker, but they are not bonded the way we were,"

"Would he do it?"

"I don't know; I don't ask. It is a sensitive subject. I don't want to ask him unless he brings it up," he kissed her head. "Sleep now. You will have a long journey home tomorrow,"

Sookie made herself comfortable in his cold arms. Upon his green shirt, his soft golden hair shed a shimmering light. She played with it a while, and then whispered, "Goodnight, Eric,"

"Goodnight, Lover,"

* * *

Sookie woke up around seven, made herself some coffee, took a shower and left Godric's place. Eric had not been beside her any more. She did not know where he slept. Godric must have had some kind of vault where both of them slept.

She wrote a message and put it on the table. A short message, _I am leaving. See you at the Haven. S._

There was an urge feeling to turn her car direction to Beaumont. Just one turn, and she would be with James. She could take James out of the ranch and fly somewhere with him; anywhere she did not care, to Timbuktu, if it was necessary! But what if what Alcide had said was correct that there were vampires and werewolves everywhere in the world; that it was not the place that caused the problem, but the blood inside James? The werewolves and the vampires would not care about the language; they would be more interested in his blood. They would be able to sense it, because blood was blood. Everywhere it was the same, whether the owner was black, white or yellow. At least here, in Louisiana or in States, the people who cared and loved him surrounded him and whom he loved.

Godric was right. The problem laid on the new True Blood. It connected the vampires and the werewolves. She must find out what this new True Blood was all about. In the meantime, even when it was a hard thing to do, she had to trust Godric. He knew how to handle James; and he would do the best thing for him.

Sookie changed her car direction to Shreveport. She just hoped, she did not make the wrong decision.

Alcide welcomed her with a wide smile, when she arrived at the haven three and half hours later. "You look awful," he said.

"I didn't have enough sleep," she said. "You woke me up,"

"Sorry," he said. "Let me show you your room. You won't return to the wood, will you?"

"I don't know. I have to wait for Pam to pick me up, but if it's too late, I probably will sleep here,"

"Let's go to Lafayette's," he sai after showing her the room and putting her bag there. "I feel more comfortable talking to you there. Besides, you look like you need something to bite," he smiled.

Alcide drove her to Lafayette's Café. "I saw Debbie yesterday," he said.

"Oh yeah? How is she?"

"She looks good," he said. He bit his lips before he continued, "She showed me her future project,"

"O yeah, what is it?"

"An advertising campaign for True Blood...the one, which can be taken by werewolves,"

Sookie took a deep breath. "They are serious with it,"

"Yap. Also Thompson and Keane paid us a visit last night,"

"Who?"

"They were at your...Eric's place once. Thompson from Black Claw and Keane from White Fangs..? Anyway, Keane seems to agree with the new True Blood and wants to give a try...and he wants to see James,"

"I know. Eric told me," Well, not exactly, but that's not the point...

"What do you think about it?"

"Sooner or later they will find out the truth, Alcide. I just can't imagine how they will react if they know who James' father is..."

"I hope not too bad. The werewolf community owe you and Eric..."

Sookie gasped. He knew.

"Yes, I know, Sookie," Alcide said as if he could read her mind. "They are so similar to each other, sooner or later people will be able to put the puzzles together. He is a lucky bastard! The world is too kind to him,"

"What do you think will happen?"

"I don't know. Let's just hope that what you do for us will be seen as a good will to the community,"

"What about Eric?"

"He's just returned from the death, really Sookie, the last thing you should be worried about is him," Alcide said, smiling. "But if you ask how the werewolves will react about it, honestly, I don't know. It could be bad; it could be good. If you ask _me_, I want to stake his heart for putting you in this situation,"

Sookie tried to smile, but it was difficult. She was sure; Alcide would have done it, if she had asked him to do it. Eric's reaction when she had accused him of being afraid to tell others that he was James' father returned to her without warning. She sighed. Eric had been angry with her too. She should have not said it. She knew Eric wanted to do it, but he concerned more about James' safety than his own feeling.

"What's wrong, Sookie? You look somehow different. Something happened in Dallas?"

"Nothing," she lied. "I just don't like the idea about James staying with the Hounders," not exactly a lie, "And we argued,"

"First time argument between you two?" Alcide's voice sounded cynical. "That's new,"

It was. It was their first argument about James.

"What would you do if you were James' father and you were a vampire, Alcide?"

Alcide looked at Sookie, but soon he concentrated on the road. His jaw moved. He was clenching his teeth.

Sookie regretted that she had asked that. Really foolish and inconsiderate of her! "I am sorry, Alcide. Forget it,"

"No, no, it's okay. I am glad that you asked me," he smiled. Sookie could see that he had forced himself to. "It is a difficult question," he said. "Vampires are not supposed to have children. If they did, it's against the nature. They have an immortal life with the cost of others and the curse of not having a bloodline. They thought that they did not need it until the time when they have learned every thing, seen everything and done everything. They got weary with their lives and possibly regretted their way of life.

I believe their reaction towards James' real identity would be harder than the reaction from the weres. Perhaps the werewolf community would mock me or insult me for taking a vampire's son as my own; but it will go away as soon as James or I can prove to them that we deserve to be respected and that we are worth it. Vampires...that's a different matter. Some might think that James is a special boy – don't get me wrong, he is a special boy, but some might think that he is an abomination. He is neither a vampire nor a human. You know what they think about half-life, even Simon wanted to be killed. It was not Simon the werewolf who demanded it, but Simon the vampire. I am afraid; they will hunt James down and possibly kill him.

However, were I a vampire, and had I a son, like James, I would make sure that everything was safe for him first, and then I would tell them. I would not care what happen to me, as long as my son survived and lived a good life, even when it meant I would never be able to claim him in public."

That was what Eric had said, more or less.

"I'll be there, Sookie. I'll protect him the best I can. It's a promise,"

"Thank you," she said.

Alcide touched her hand and patted it. "Thank you for asking me," he said. "Let's just hope that James really listens to you and try to avoid problem at the Hounders'. I'll talk to him about Luna if you want to,"

"You knew about Luna, too?" Sookie surprised.

"Well, not me. It was Janine who told me," his smile was wider and it became a grin.

"What?"

"She hopes that James will marry Alice, one day."

Sookie could not help but to laugh. "What is it with James, every female weres are crazy about him!"

"It's his father, I believe. His _wolf _father," he emphasized the word 'wolf', which made Sookie laugh louder. Yeah, yeah. Men! Alcide grinned. "You think the idea of James and Alice is funny?" he asked.

"No, but there are twelve years differences between them. Maybe James will already have got married and had children by the time she's graduated from high school,"

"Phew," said Alcide. "I thought you would agree on that crazy idea,"

She might be desperate to match James with any girl just to get rid off Luna, but she was not _that _desperate.

"Something I have to tell you," he said. "Lafayette doesn't look so good; he pretended that everything is okay, but he's not,"

"Thank you for telling me that. I'll talk to him,"

They stopped in front of the Café. It looked quiet. It was unusual that Lafayette Café was quiet. Even during its closing time, there were always some people running around doing the preparation. Something was not right.


	33. Woe is Lafayette

Thirty-Two

**Woe is Lafayette  
**

His white silk handkerchief was purplish, coloured by the eye shadow that now was being washed off by his tears. The colourful glass bangles, which clutched his hand, made clear sound when he moved. Cling. Cling. Cling.

"He faxed me," he said. "He faxed me to say that it is over between us; no telephone, no text, no e-mail, but fax! As if, I was a business arrangement to him! Fifteen years we were together and he didn't even have the gut to tell me via telephone that we were over. Fax! Fucking fax!"

"It's so...out of date," said Alcide, not knowing what else to comment.

Lafayette sobbed. "I thought we were so good together..."

"Laffy..." Sookie hugged him.

"I knew it! The moment he said that his grandfather wanted him to be in Dallas; I knew that he would take that chance to leave me. He is a fucking coward!"

"There's got to be an explanation for this, Laffy..."

"Oh Honey, you are so naive. Men will give explanations long and wide like a textbook if they are given the chance. Of course there's an explanation, but I don't want to hear any explanation," suddenly he got up. "I've got to go to Dallas. I've got to hear it from his own mouth, or I'll kick his ass,"

Alcide held him before he managed to move. "Lafayette, please sit down. You're not in any condition to go any where,"

"What do you know, Alcide? You never have heartache,"

"Believe me, Lafayette. I know,"

"You should stop loving this stupid girl,"

"Now you're talking nonsense," Alcide said. He took him into his arms and Lafayette continued sobbing.

It broke Sookie's heart to see Lafayette like that. At the beginning, she had been sceptical about Joseph. Yes, he had saved her, but still, he was also a member of this strange church, which was against the vampires: The Followers of the Sun. According to Aude, his family had a long history with Eric. It was Eric who had killed Joseph's great uncle back in 1950. Since then, the Newlins had been always on the first line when it came to fight against the vampires. Verbal, or physical. Later on, Joseph won her heart by showing her that he really loved Lafayette and made him happy. When James had been born, he was soon bonded with James, took a role as his father or big brother and made Sookie trust him and Lafayette the secret of James' real father.

After drinking a cup of tea and smoking a yellow galouise, Lafayette looked calm down. His eyes were puffy and his hands were trembling, but he looked like he was ready to talk. "It happened last night, around ten," his voice was low. "Tess, one of the girls, gave me a piece of paper. Her face was pale and she looked terrified. 'Sorry, Boss,' she said. 'I don't mean to read it,'. 'Silly girl,' I said. 'Of course you can read it,' I thought it was a business order. I mean, which idiot sends faxes these days if it's not for business? Tess didn't say anything, but left me in a hurry. I put the fax aside. I thought, I'd read it later. The café was full last night, as usual and Joey was not there; and nobody could make cocktails but me. So I had to do double, served and shook.

After some times, I realized that my employees were whispering and looking at me in a strange way. I know that my café is some kind of gossip nest, but why they were all looking at me like I was a moon calf? 'The fax,' I thought. 'It has something to do with the fax,'. So I took it and read it. I did not believe what I saw. "Goodbye, Lafayette. It's over now. Joseph." Goodbye Lafayette?! Lafayette?! Joey never called me like that! It's so cold, so emotionless like he was talking to a piece of meat!" tears ran down on his cheek.

Sookie pulled out some Kleenex and gave them to him.

He blew his nose with it. "I felt it, you know. In the last couple of months, he has been distance. Something has been on his mind; and he didn't want to tell me. I thought, if I gave him time he would finally come and tell me. I did not want to push him; I wanted to give some spaces. I guess I was wrong.

Then you came, Sookie. He was getting quieter. He was always somewhere, if not physically then he was away with his mind, unreachable. Then, he started receiving calls from Dallas, sometimes it was his brother and some other time it was his mother. They did not want to talk to me – they never want anyway so I didn't care so much. After the calls, he was mostly quiet. If I asked him, he said, 'The usual'. They wanted him to go to Dallas and left Bon Temps for good. No, no, they don't want him to leave Bon Temps, they want him to leave me! So I thought, that's okay. It was not good, but it wasn't bad either. We've had this kind of calls every time, especially around Thanksgiving and Christmas. 'How will you give us grand children, Joseph, if you don't have a wife?' His grand-mother always asked. Or, 'Come home, Joseph; and we pray to the Lord to let you find the right way,' Pray to the Lord my ass!" Lafayette killed his cigarette rudely.

"Then two weeks ago, we started receiving strange calls. If I picked it up, the line was dead. But if Joseph did, there was always a very suspicious conversation. Joseph was whispering or even speaking in Spanish. Once I listened from the other telephone, and there was a strange voice on the other line..." he was so trembling that he could not hold his cigarette properly. Alcide helped him light the cigarette. "Thanks, Hon," he said. "It was a man. I think...I think..." he took a deep breath. "I know that I am getting older now, all wrinkles and not always ready to fuck...sorry, Alcide. You have to bear me, now."

Alcide smiled. "It's okay, Laffy,"

Lafayette touched his face. "You are so sweet, Hon," Then, he continued sucking his cigarette. "I tried not to be paranoid. You know, women always have intuition, feelings if her lover had somebody else or not. I swore, I didn't have those feelings. We did not do it so often anymore, but every time we did it, I could feel that Joey was really there for me and I love him. Nobody can love him better than I do. What have I done wrong?"

Sookie held her cup tightly. She did not think that Joseph would leave Lafayette just like that. As weird as it sounded, Joseph loved Lafayette; otherwise, he would have not saved her life back then.

"I have to go to Dallas," Lafayette said. "I have to hear it from his own mouth that he really wants it to be over. I can't and won't take this. I don't care if his whole family will kill me, I have to see him,"

"I don't think that's a good idea, Laffy," Sookie said.

"You think I simply take this shit?"

"No," Sookie sat down and put her cup on the table. "There's something that I have to tell you,"

"No, no..." Lafayette shook his head. "I don't hear this..."

"You don't even know what she is going to say," Alcide said.

"I know her. She always starts with that shit if she wants to tell me bad news...like when she was pregnant with that fucker...No, don't start that fucking shit with me, Sookie. Not with me...not now..." His shoulder started shaking. "Please no..."

Sookie held his hands. "Listen," she said. "I don't think that Joseph is leaving you..."

"No, no. Stop it!" he took away his hands. "Joseph won't do anything that will harm you or James..."

Alcide looked at him and then at Sookie. "What is he talking about?"

"It's about his church..."

Lafayette covered his mouth. "That fucking church again,"

"Jason told me..." Sookie took Lafayette's hand. She held it tighter as Lafayette wanted to take it away again. "Listen...Jason told me, that his friends from Baton Rouge had information about FOTS. He said...listen, he said that FOTS orders a lot of guns. Jason believes that they are going for hunting,"

"Hunting? Hunting what?" Lafayette looked at Sookie and then at Alcide. He gasped. "Alcide?"

"The hunt has begun, Laffy," Alcide said. "They have tried to kill me, except that it was Sookie, James and Eric who were in the car; and not me,"

"Stupid fuck, dumb shit, motherfucker!" Lafayette threw away his cigarette. "I'll go to Dallas, I can tell you. I'll drag that ass back here and I'm gonna wreck that fucker's head, I can tell you!" He stood up and went to his room. "Don't even think to stop me!!"

"Sookie..." Alcide said. "You'd better stop him, otherwise he'd hurt himself,"

Lafayette was hurt; nothing she could do to stop him being angry and exploding. She had to wait for a moment until he calmed down, then he was reachable again. Nothing she said or did would make Lafayette change his mind. She could understand why Lafayette reacted like that. Joseph should have come clean with Lafayette. He would have understood. If Lafayette felt that he was betrayed, then it would be difficult for Joseph to win his heart back.

Lafayette was standing at his bedroom's door. Tears were on his cheek. In his hands were his trousers. "I can't find the right shoes for this stupid thing here!"

Sookie came to her. Softly she took the trousers from his hands. "Why don't you lie down and take some aspirin. You need some sleep, Gal," she said. "We can talk later, okay? Have some sleep and think carefully. If you still want to go to Dallas, we find a way to go there," she wiped off his tears. "If you want, I can call Godric and ask him to find out about Joseph, okay? Now, take some aspirin or the strongest pill you have and have some rest. Please, for me and James?"

Lafayette sniffed and nodded. After taking a sleeping pill, he lay down. He asked Sookie to accompany him until he fell asleep, which was answered with a nod.

"Poor guy," Alcide said, when Sookie went out from Lafayette's room. "How is he?"

"He's sleeping,"

"We can't leave him alone here,"

"No. I think I'll stay with him,"

"No," Alcide said. "You two go to my place. I don't want to leave you alone here," he sighed. "He must have been shocked being dumped like that. Are you sure that Joseph is doing this because he has to?"

"Do you want me to tell him that perhaps Joseph really left him?"

"No. You are right. That's not helping,"

"If there's a way to contact Joseph..."

"What about Godric?"

"I ask him to watch over James," Sookie said.

Alcide's green eyes were wide open. "That bad? You really don't trust them, do you? Or you don't trust us?"

Her son could choose to be a part of the werewolf society, of course she had to trust them. But at this moment, she trusted Godric more than others. She knew Godric would not do any harm to James, and she knew that he would not take any advantage of him. The werewolves, on the other side, she was not sure.

"I see," Alcide said. He sounded disappointed.

For a moment, Sookie was hesitating to tell Alcide what Godric had told her, but then she decided to have an open card with him. If the time came that James' identity was revealed, she would need him to be on her side more than ever.

Alcide listened carefully to what she said. His eyebrow met in the middle and his green eyes looked thoughtful. Then, he fell into silence. For a long while; somehow, it scared Sookie. "I wish I was there," he said finally. "Poor boy. He would be very confused if he woke up one day with a lot of hair on his body,"

"What do you mean?"

"At least this is what happens to us: some of us were born as werewolves; some weren't. Those who were born as werewolves would show the signs at the time they were born; you know - the usual things, long hair upon the body, yellow, red or orange eye colors, and canine teeth..."

"You were born with teeth?! It would shock me if it happened to me!"

"Not exactly teeth like what we have, but the babies would have different shape of gum...anyway; if not, then we have to wait until they are ten years old. I don't know what will happen to James, but I can imagine it would be the same. Oh-oh..."

"What oh-oh?"

"As a young werewolf, he will have an enormous appetite in everything,"

"What do you mean with _everything_?"

"Everything. Food, beverage, body activities....sex,"

Sookie covered her face. Just what James needed! If he could be hornier than what he was now, she could not...did not want to imagine what would happen.

"But he is not a werewolf...so perhaps the things would not be that severe for him," Alcide said, but his voice did not sound so convincing.

"Arrgh...as if I did not have enough problems already!"

Alcide took her hand and smiled. Sookie was surprised to feel how soft his hand was. It's like she was touched by a dog or a man with a glove made of velvet. "You're worried too much," he said. "Let your son grow and be what he wants. You can only guide him that he makes the right choices,"

"For a man without children, you seem to know a lot about children,"

"I have a lot of nieces and nephews," he said. "I've learned,"

Yeah, like Eric with his female social worker. She wondered what else had Eric learned from that woman?

Alcide let his hand go. "You stay here; I'll buy you some lunch,"

"I can make some small salad..."

Alcide grinned. "Yeah, I know."

"What?"

"Sookie, you might be the best lawyer in Bon Temps, but kitchen is not your area of expertise. Your coffee is ...forgivable," he got up. "So stay put,"

Her coffee was forgivable? That bad? She sipped her coffee. It tasted all right to her.

Alcide walked away, laughing. "Trust me, Sookie!"

It was late in the afternoon when Lafayette woke up. His first thought was to open his Café, but Sookie managed to convince him to let it closed.

"Oh, you're right," he said. "I sent them home last night, and told them that they had holiday until further notice. Oh, it was awful last night. Alone on the bed, thinking and trying to figure out what I have done to deserve this. Poor Joseph. His soul must have been torn apart to choose between his family and us. He loves James, no doubt about it, and now, James befriends with the werewolves....and if his family is behind all of these...oh, poor Joseph. No, no more tears!" he wiped off his tears, which ran down without warning.

"What if he did it because he had to...I mean for your safety? You know how his family is. I don't know what they are up to this time, but it can't be good,"

"But there should be another way that he should have taken without humiliating me in front of everybody like that? He could give a sign, a symbol anything that only he and I understand. I mean, fax, Sook. Fax?! I am dumped via an ancient technology! If he wrote me a letter....it would be romantic....but Joey never wrote any letter..." he sighed. "How should I go on without him? How did you go on living without the man of your life? How could you survive your fifteen years without Eric, Sookie? You have to tell me how!"

In her case, she had buried herself in works and taken care of James. Yeah, she had dated here and there without any result.

Suddenly Lafayette got up. "What if he told his family about James? What if he told them that James' father was a vampire?" he covered his mouth with his hand, realizing that there was somebody else in the room.

"Then, I personally will tear his throat apart," said Alcide, looking at him. "I know about Eric, Laffy,"

"You told him?" Lafayette looked at Sookie, astonished.

Sookie shook her head. "He found out, Sam had found out, too."

"I told you it's not safe to return to Bon Temps. No offence, Alcide," said Lafayette. "You should have stayed in Baton Rouge and never returned here,"

"James had the right to know about his father, don't you think so?"

"You agree with all of these, Alcide?" asked Lafayette.

"It has been done," said Alcide. "The best thing to do is to make the best out of it. Listen, Laffy. You might not like it, but I think you should stay with us tonight, at the haven,"

"Oh, I don't know..."

"Oh, yes you do," said Sookie. "I won't leave you like this, you can be sure. And I don't take 'no' for an answer,"

"You definitely stay with that bastard too long! You have no heart anymore, ordering me around like that, especially now," said Lafayette. "Why can't you stay here tonight?"

"Eric wants me to stay with Alcide at the haven. I think it's also better that way. If anything happens, Alcide and his men can act fast,"

"Eric wants you to, eh?" Lafayette's hands were on his hips, but then he said, "Oh, all right!"

"Come; let me help you packing,"

"How long do I have to stay at Alcide's place? I have a business to run!"

"I think it would be better if you stay with us until you feel better, Laffy."

"I will only feel better if I have something to do. If I have to sit around, I will die thinking about him. And if I must die, then the hell if I have to think about him too,"

"We will see how you feel tomorrow, okay?" Sookie said. "Then, we decide,"

After putting a pair of jeans, t-shirt, undergarments and a pair of comfortable shoes, they left the house. It had been difficult to find just one pair of comfortable shoes in his collection. Among those high heels, clogs, platform shoes and god knows what else, they finally found a pair of colourful sneakers.

"You and Eric should open a shoe-shop together," Sookie said, throwing his bag inside the car. "Nobody else is as crazy as you, but Eric. How could you walk in those monsters?"

"I manage, like any woman should," Lafayette became all sassy. "You should learn to walk properly too, so that you don't look like a stork when you are walking in one of your horrible pumps,"

"Ladies, can we go now?" asked Alcide, before Sookie managed to shoot Lafayette back. "I prefer to be at the haven before it's dark,"

They entered the car.

Sookie looked at Lafayette. How she wished that she were able to tell him everything would be all right. It would be a lie; and he knew it. She did not know what drove Joseph to take that harsh measure, but there had to be a reason. Perhaps they forced him to, perhaps that was the only way to keep Lafayette away from troubles? But how stupid Joseph could be? James was like a son to Lafayette. Anything that happened to James would drag Lafayette into it, did not matter what it was.

The easier for her would be that Joseph left him because he had another man or woman (just in case his family forced him to get married somehow). It sounded cruel, but at least, if that was the reason, then the situation was not as dangerous as she had thought. She had not cared about the power struggle between the vampires and the FOTS; even then she was not blind, she knew that FOTS got more and more followers for the last five years. Their voice was stronger and their TV programs or churches were growing like mushrooms in the rainy season. If they started to fill their churches with guns and silver, there would be only one possibility left. War. James, Lafayette and she were caught right exactly in the middle of it.

_Don't think about it,_ suddenly she heard Alcide's voice. He tried to communicate with her via his mind. _Lafayette can see it from your face._

Sookie looked at Lafayette. Her best friend was somewhere away with his own thought. Alcide was right; it was not fair of her thinking about the cruellest possibility for Lafayette, so that she could escape from the danger. The danger was there; lurking, the whole time since the day the vampires had made their existence known to the world. She could not escape from it, whether she wanted or not. She had a relation with a vampire. Had she not a child, they would have hunted her for other reasons. Besides, Lafayette would go through fire and hell to fight for his love. If Joseph left him for other man or woman, it would be the end of the day for him. But if Lafayette had to raise weapons against anybody who was dared to stand between him and Joseph, he would do it.

Sookie sighed. She would call Godric tonight. She would ask him to find out about the FOTS' activities. If that meant he had to leave James alone with the Hounders and Luna, then with a bitter thought, she had to accept that chance. James' fate was no longer in her hand. It was too early for her to face it, but she had to face it. James had to make decisions on his own, and by the name of God, she hoped that all the values that she had taught him, all the love that she had given him would be a strong ground for him to make the right one.


	34. In Desperate Hours

**Author's Note: To M, my beloved one.**

Thirty-three

**In Desperate Hours  
**

Sam Merlotte was soaking wet. A stupid nurse had sprayed some flowers in the bouquet and some drops of water almost hit his body. Lucky enough, he had managed to fly before they hit him and trapped him inside; but still, the water had splashed on him and made him wet.

To be a shifter was not always easy. If he was in a form of a bird or any other big animals, it was quite comfortable. He could see things from a distance, without anybody paid any attention. He had once shifted his shape into a black cat, sitting on the roof, watched drug dealers made transaction. He could hear every details of it. In the morning, he contacted his friends in the vice section, gave them the information and on the date and time that he had heard, the cops busted the crooks. He'd got a lot of money as a payment and the officers owed him. Any time he needed some help, they were always willing to do. I-scratch-your-back, you-scratch-my-back kind of thing. Of course his friends wondered from where he had received such tips, they even asked him! Sam smiled, tipped his hat and said, "A chef will never reveal the secret of his recipe." However, in the shape of smaller animals, he had to be extra careful. Everything became mighty huge and deadly. A drop of water, which meant nothing when he was in his human shape, could kill him if he was in a mosquito shape, like now.

Today was the second day that he was inside Leclreq Wellness Centre. He had investigated the right-wing section yesterday; and he had not found anything interesting. The right-wing section was the patient rooms: one luxurious room after the other. They had all what the patients wished: huge televisions, books, Jacuzzi, anything! Most of the patients were old; and mostly they were women. Sam also noticed that one patient had three nurses. He did not want to know how much they had to pay for all those treatment and facilities, but since their partners were vampires, money was obviously not the question.

Carefully, he shook the rest of the water on his wings. Fortunately, they used some kind of air conditioner inside; therefore, the wings and the rest of his body were quickly dried. He would love to stay there longer, if only the stung of the cleaner that they used to disinfect the floor was not that strong. It made him dizzy and out of balance. He had to fly slowly and carefully, otherwise, he would bump on something. He also had to fly high, to avoid having body contact with human. They were all like giants now. A little body contact from them could kill him.

After a while, his body was dry. He was going to spring, when he heard one of the nurses said,

"Did you already prepare the room?"

"I thought she would come tomorrow,"

"Yes, but her people would come today. You know how peculiar and specific they are!"

"Do you think it will be safe, I mean not for her, but for others. After all..."

"Psst! Don't talk too much. You know that the walls have ears here,"

Well, they could say that again. Sam saw some small microphones hidden here and there. If their bosses heard the conversation, it was not because other employees ratted them out, but it was because any kind of conversation was recorded in this building. Heh, talking about security. Even their own employees were monitored.

"Go now," said the bossy nurse again. "You really don't want to get into problems,"

"All right, all right!" said the other.

Sam jumped and landed on her shoulder. Slowly he crept and hid under her collar. "When will they come?" her voice was not clear now. It sounded as if she was talking inside a bottle, damped and unclear.

"As soon as the sun sets. You know, the vampiric hours,"

Vampires. Vampires would come to this building. He'd better leave the building as soon as possible. He did not know exactly what Northman had meant when he said that vampires had a way to find out if a shifter was in the building, but he would not stay too long here to find out. He might be able to handle one vampire, but he was not sure if he had to face two or more. He had to get to know this woman.

Sam crawled out of her collar and flew out of the building.

Two Long Tooth members turned around in a fighting position when they heard a sound of cracking branches. Sam landed exactly behind them, naked.

Sam had parked his car some meters away from the outer wall that surrounded the facility. It was still on the parking lot, but it was rather hidden. He did not want that the security cameras somehow captured him or his car.

"You're early," said one of them.

"Vampires are coming," Sam said. "I don't want to stay inside too long," he grabbed his clothes and put them on. "But I will wait for somebody. She knows something and I want to know the details."

"Should we wait for you, or can you handle it yourself?"

"You'd better go," he said. "Alcide might need you,"

Those men nodded and then left him. "Just call if you need us," one of them said as they were entering their car. "And what should we tell Alcide?"

"I'd come late, if I come at all,"

"You got it, Sam!"

Sam combed his hair and put his hat on. He was going to get himself a date.

* * *

The sound of distant horn filled the air.

Sookie could only see the lights from ships coming from far away. She didn't know how to tell if a ship was a freight ship or a passenger ship. They all looked the same to her. Alcide said you could see from its lights, but still she did not know what it meant.

Lafayette was with Janine now, keeping himself busy, talking about cooking and the latest gossip in the celebrity world, who got whom, who dumped whom, wore what and when. Sookie could hear Lafayatte's reaction, "You don't say," or any other standard answers – a sign that he did not take the whole conversation seriously.

Sookie felt sorry for him. He loved Joseph, that man had better a real good reason to treat Lafayette like that!

"Sam won't come tonight," Alcide sat down in front of her. "He is trying to get information from an insider,"

"Insider? Does he know somebody who works there?"

"A nurse. He said, she had something very important for us and he would try to find out tonight. Tomorrow he will contact me again. Tonight, he doesn't want to be disturbed,"

"That sounds serious,"

Alcide smirked. "Sam is always serious about his job," Sookie caught a cynical tone in Alcide's voice. "And he will do whatever it takes to get his job done. I am lucky to have him,"

"How long has he known this nurse? I mean, can we trust the information?"

"He doesn't even know her name, yet. But by tomorrow, he believes, he will get what he wants,"

Sookie had to digest that information for a moment. When she realized what Alcide meant, her eyes were widened. She had never known that side of Sam before. She got up. "I want to call Godric," she said. "I want to tell him about Joseph Newlin. Maybe he could do something about it,"

"I'll come with you, if Pam picks you up. I want to know how Bill is,"

"Okay,"

Godric did not answer immediately when Sookie told him. After a while, he said. "I'll see what I can do,"

"Thank you, Godric,"

Pam came around nine. She wore her dominatrix outfit: black corset, black shirt with long boots. Around her neck was a black collier with a big bright ruby in the middle. She wore an armband with the same style like the collier. Sookie could not help but to remember all of those pastel coloured things at her house. How different a person between her private and business times could be was beyond her imagination.

Pam's eyes ran from Alcide's head down to toes. Her lips curled. The idea of having a werewolf at her place was not a pleasure for her and everybody could see that. "I don't know what else I have to do for you, Sookie. But if you insist," she said.

Not exactly a welcome, but Alcide did not care.

"My house is the last sanctuary for Eric and Godric," said Pam, later when they were alone, waiting for Alcide to finish giving some instructions to his men. "Even Aude did not know anything about it. Now I have to show it to a werewolf," her fangs were out. She looked pissed.

"I am sorry, Pam. If you feel uncomfortable with..."

"My order from Eric is clear, Sookie. I have to fulfil anything you ask for tonight. He can't be with you; for tonight, you are my master. But don't expect me to follow your orders," there's a smile on her face. "I don't really follow his, either."

Sookie smiled. "That's why I like you,"

Pam smirked. "The more protection that you have, the better it is for you, I suppose. And honestly, with Bill's condition, I am not sure if I can take care of you and Bill, alone."

"How is he?"

"You'll see him with your own eyes,"

That did not sound good.

Alcide entered the car. "I am ready," he said.

Pam started the car and drove them away from the Haven. "Hold on tight, people," she said. "I am a little bit in a hurry,"

Sookie grabbed each side of her seat tightly. Pam drove like a mad woman. The car moved like a snake, passed by each car, without slowing down. The colours of the cars were blurring, creating a line of rainbow. "Pam, slow down, will you?" she said. "I am still alive and I still want to live!"

"Sorry, Sookie. I feel much better if we are already off the main road,"

"Where do you live, actually?" asked Alcide. Sookie saw his hands, which also grabbed his seat, had long black nails. Either he was afraid or he was ready to jump.

Pam did not answer. Sookie did not know where they live either. James and she had come to her place in the night. Eric had flown them there and they had left that place in the night time too. She remembered, however, that the house was on some kind of a hill. She just did not know where.

The car turned left to the smaller road, and again turned left, entered a path. The street name was unreadable, some letters were missing and it covered by dust and rust. Sookie saw some holes on it, as if somebody had used it as a target practise.

"Canyon Road," Alcide said. "There is no house at Canyon Road. This area had been abandoned since long time ago. No human...." he stopped. "You are not human,"

"Oh, you just noticed it?" Pam sounded very cynical.

"Why had it been abandoned?" asked Sookie.

"Rumour said there was some kind of strange nuclear radiation that changed human into wolves," said Pam.

"Ha, ha. Very funny," said Alcide. "The police found bodies here in some periode of time – the end of 1970s until early 1980s, sucked dried. Of course the idea that vampires did it never occurred at that time. And the police officers who tried to find out what happened, returned empty-handed. They did not find anything,"

"They were glamoured," said Sookie.

"Something like that, yes." said Pam. "I liked to play with them first. Chow always used them as some kind of sparing partner. He needed to train his muscles, he said,"

"And Eric?"

"Eric was in New York with Aude. But if he came to visit me, he only watched our amusing activities,"

Sookie wanted to ask if he had also done the same if the trespassers had been women, but she changed her mind. She did not want to sound desperate and jealous in front of Alcide. Anyway, if Eric had done it, it was not her business.

Suddenly, Pam stopped the car. Sookie and Alcide were pulled to the front, and then thrown back onto the seat. Thank god, that their seat belts were on, otherwise they would have been thrown away through the window, or their heads had been smashed to the back of the front seats.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" said Alcide. "You could have killed Sookie!"

"Out," said Pam. "Cautious, Alcide. Somebody is here,"

Alcide unbuckled himself. His finger nails were getting longer. "You stay in the car," he said to Sookie.

"Go to the front seat, Dear." said Pam, opening the car. "If something happens, leave and go to Baton Rouge. Eric will be able to sense you as soon as you enter Baton Rouge,"

Sookie unbuckled herself and went to the front seat. Her heartbeat was racing.

Pam and Alcide stood side by side. Their figures showed a strange view: Pam with her pale skin, and Alcide with his hairy arms. It looked like two different worlds finally collide against each other. A vampire and a werewolf, stood beside each other to protect her, a human. Strange things indeed had happened, but Sookie thought, what she was seeing was the strangest of them all.

Out of nowhere, three figures emerged. Vampires. They all dressed up like some business men, with suits and ties; however, their pale skin could not hide their real identities.

"Pamela," one of them said.

"Addison," said Pam. "What a surprise," her voice sounded flat.

"Indeed," said Addison. "Especially to see you standing right next to a dog,"

Sookie could hear the sound of bones cracking. Alcide was transforming.

"Control your dog, Pamela. You wouldn't want that His Majesty had any knowledge about it,"

"He is a free wolf," she said. "Freer than you can ever imagine. Of course, that's if you know the meaning of the word,"

Pam and Addison must have a long history of disliking.

"What do you want, Addison?"

Suddenly, Addison looked at Sookie. His eyes lingered for a while on her face and then he looked at Pam and said, "Checking up the merchandise,"

What?

"His Majesty's order," he continued.

Sookie was about to open her seat belt, when she heard Alcide's voice. Not as clear as normally, but good enough for Sookie to understand what he wanted. "Don't...out....in the car.....dangerous...."

"Is that so?" said Pam. Click. Her fangs were out.

"My dear, Pamela," Addison mocked her. "I come with a straight order from the King,"

"I don't work for the King," she said. "I am the subject of Queen Sophie-Anne; I answer only to her and to my Sheriff. My Sheriff's order to me was clear as well. Unless you wanted to receive some lessons from Sheriff of Shreveport, you should consider taking a hike and taking your servants with you,"

Several clicks were heard.

"From what I heard, the Queen was not herself," said Addison. His fangs were bared to see.

"From what I heard, the Queen's wish for dinner was the head of André Paul, served on a golden tablet,"

Addison sniffed. "You are challenging His Majesty's authority and power, Pamela."

"Very unlikely, my dear Addison. I am not the subject of the King of Arkansas,"

"Not yet," Addison smiled mockingly. "But soon. And you know what I like to do with naughty girls like you," he gave a sign to his men, and just like the way they had appeared, they were gone within a blink of an eye.

Pam and Alcide stood there for some moment, and then hurriedly they went to the car. Sookie moved to the side without being asked.

Without a word, Pam drove the car. From the rear mirror, Sookie could see how tensed Alcide was. His face was not yet clean from the hair. He looked fierce and scary. Sookie had never seen Alcide like that before. He was always either in his human shape or werewolf shape, never in between. It was like looking at all those monster pictures from a horror movie.

Alcide looked at her straight into her eyes. His eyes were mixed between yellow and orange, more orange than yellow. "What was that all about?" his voice was growling.

"André Paul, the vampire who came with Bill to the mansion some days ago....he wants to marry me," Sookie said. "Eric said he went to Arkansas to ask for help and apparently, he got it."

Alcide snarled. He opened his mouth, showing his canine teeth, which were big and looked like razor.

"And that fool of a king sent his people to see you," Pam said. "And it had to be Addison,"

"You seem to know him," said Sookie.

"We had some history way back in England," said Pam. "Oh well, so be it. We fucked. Once and I was too drunken; I didn't even remember what happened. And he became obsessed with me. He tried to get me into bed, whenever he could. Anyway, when he became the king's right hand man, he thought that he could do whatever he wanted with me. Well, he was wrong and he knew it in a hard way. Now he projects his anger to me,"

"Vampires can get drunk?"

"If there is too much alcohol in the blood, yes,"

"When did André ask you?" asked Alcide. He was getting impatient with the conversation.

"At the mansion," answered Sookie. She stared at Alcide. "He doesn't want me, he wants James,"

"What?" asked Pam.

"He thought the only way to control James is by marrying me,"

Pam looked at her. Her face was hard. "He senses his blood," she said. "And yours. He knows about your mind reading ability. I believe he wants you to be his wife so that he can also control you,"

"No man will control me,"

"You should have married me or Sam, I don't care. As long as you are free from their claws," said Alcide. By them, he meant 'vampires'. Pam rolled her eyes as she heard it.

"Only a vampiric marriage will save her from André's claws," Pam's mouth was curled when she said the word 'claw'. "Sookie could marry you or anybody she wants, but as long as she is not bonded with a vampire, she is a free woman. Any vampire can marry her.

"Eric..." Alcide said. "Eric could do that,"

"What are you, Alcide?" Sookie turned around. "My father?"

His orange-yellowish eyes looked back at her. "Your lover, if you allow me. But more than that, your friend, who wants to see you save,"

"That's romantic," said Pam. Her voice was as cynical as ever. "I hate fucking romanticism,"

Eric had said that, too. Only a marriage could save her from André's intention, but a marriage was not exactly what was on her mind for the moment. The people of King of Arkansas were here. They were roaming free as if the Queen of Louisiana had not power over her realm any more. Was the Queen so weak? She decided to ask Pam.

"We respect other vampires' area," answered Pam. "If there is a vampire who is committed of trespassing, we normally take the case to the tribunal,"

" How could they come here and act as if this was their territory? This is not Arkansas,"

"No, but the Queen is married to His Majesty. In the case, where the Queen is not able, or considered not able to perform her duty, His Majesty, the King of Arkansas has the rights to do it instead. Perhaps the Queen is seen unfit to perform her duty, especially if that rat André Paul gave him report which supports his decision,"

"If I have a chance to lay my hands on that coward, I'll rip off his throat," said Alcide. "I promise you, Sookie. His head is yours,"

Sookie gave him her hand. "Thank you, Alcide. André is the last thing that I am worried about right now," she said. Alcide took her hand. His soft skin sent a kind of gentle feeling that calmed her down. "If the King of Arkansas finds out André's real reason of wanting to marry me, then I can't imagine what would happen to James,"

"Let him be seen by the clans," said Alcide. "His position would be stronger in our world and Vampires would think twice to harm him,"

Sookie sighed. All was up to James. She did not want to push or rash James into any decision, which she or he might regret.

"I have to take him to the Square Stone," Alcide said. "But I will feel much better, if you give me the permission,"

"This is too much for a night," said Pam, as if she wanted to tell sookie that she should think about it. "Well, here we are,"

The car stopped in front of a house. The lights were off. Sookie could not see anything except its shape.

They went out of the car.

"Why is it so dark?" Alcide asked.

"It's better that way. Bill is too weak to receive any visitor," Pam said.

"Can vampires go inside your house without being invited?"

"No," Pam said. "But still, being cautious is always better,"

Sookie's heart sank when she saw Bill. Bill Compton, a figure she had known since she was little, was now sitting on the chair, looked fragile as if a strong wind could blow him away, easily. His figure, which had always been straight, was now bent and he looked tired. Tired and grey. His sandy hair was dumb and unkempt. He tried to stand up when he saw her, but soon his body sank on the chair.

"Good evening, Sukeh," But he still had his manner. He nodded a little bit and smiled. "How are you, Ma'am?"

Sookie thought it was such an irony that Bill was the one who asked her about her well-being and not the other way around. "I am fine, Bill, thank you. How are you?"

"I've been better." He looked at Alcide. "Hello, Alcide,"

"Bill," Alcide nodded. He came to Bill and shook his hand. "If there's anything that I can do, anything at all...."

"Thank you, Alcide. Maybe, some other times,"

Sookie sat down beside him.

"I'll be out for a while," Pam said. "Alcide, can I talk to you for a sec?"

Alcide patted Bill's shoulder and walked toward Pam.

"You should not be here, Sukeh," Bill said. His voice was low. "You should be with your son,"

"He is in Beaumont, now. With the werewolves and Godric,"

"It is too dangerous for him to be around the werewolves," he whispered.

"Who were those men in silver suit, Bill?"

"I don't know who they are," he said. "But they work for the Queen, now. The Palace is guarded by them and they also replace all other human employees."

"Eric," Sookie stood up. "He said he wanted to see the Queen. I have to warn him,"

Bill grabbed her hand. "He could take care of himself, don't worry," he said. "Listen to me, please. You have to tell Alcide, they have to protect the bitten ones. The men in silver suits are targeting the bitten ones, for now." Suddenly his body shook and he fell to the floor and continued shaking; from his mouth came out white foam.

"Alcide!" Sookie yelled out. "Help!"

Alcide came in a hurry. He lifted Bill and took him to the next room he saw, which was Pam's room. Carefully, he put Bill on the bed.

Sookie ran to the bathroom and took a towel to wipe off the foam. "We have to help him," she said, sitting on the edge of the bed, cleaning up Bill's mouth. "Or he will die,"

"We can't take him to the hospital," Alcide said. "Vampires are not supposed to be sick,"

"...or having children," Sookie said. "But unfortunately, some of them are."

Alcide sighed. "I don't know how to help him,"

Her conversation with Eric rang in her head. She had to try. She had to convince Bill to take that risk. He could continue like this, or he could take the risk. Sooner or later, he would die anyway. Why not die trying?

"Bill..." she whispered his name.

Slowly his eyes were open.

"Do you...do you remember Wilson...."

"Sookie, what are you doing?" asked Alcide.

"I have an idea how to help him..."

Bill's eyes blinked.

"Your blood has to be drained, just like what happened to Eric; and we refill your body with new blood,"

"Sookie...that's too dangerous,"

"He has no choice, Alcide. He's dying. If I were him, I prefer to die trying,"

"Whose blood?"

"Somebody who has the same blood with him, just like Eric. He must have a maker, a brother or a sister. He must!"

The room was quiet. Bill was now closing his eyes. It was really strange and Sookie must tell herself again and again that Bill was a vampire; however, she could not get rid off a strange feeling that she was looking at a man, who was laying on the bed and not breathing.

Alcide pulled her away from Bill. "That was crazy!" he hissed. "You are giving him a hope, which you can't be sure that it can be fulfilled,"

"There is no other way, Alcide! That was the way Eric survived from the death!"

"What are you talking about? Eric was dead and he came back..." Alcide looked at her and Sookie realized her mistake. Alcide had believed that Eric had been dead; and it had been a miracle; a will of God, or whatever they called it that brought Eric back from the death.

Slowly Alcide let his grip go. "You have lied to me," his voice was low. On his face was disappointment as clear as a white chalk on the blackboard.

"I never lied to you...." Sookie said.

"But you never said!" Alcide said, almost yelled. "You let me believe that Eric had died...and like a fool I took whatever came from you as the truth..." he walked away from her. "I've got to get out of here...this is...this is...." he left the room.

"Alcide!" Sookie chased him.

"I am sorry, Sookie. This is too much …."

Sookie managed to grab his hand before he reached the door. And she was not very clear what had happened, but the next she knew, Alcide had her in his arms. Whether it was because of the desperation and fear that she might have lost a very good friend and protector, who would do anything she asked him to do, or it was just like any other circumstance: it happened, she found herself being pushed onto the wall, lifted and kissed. His lips were warm and soft and despite his appearance that was mostly thoughtful, his kiss was desperate, as if he himself could not believe it was actually happening and mixed with joy that it did happened. Sookie herself did not know how or what to react. She could feel how her body felt suddenly...peaceful. Different when Eric...Eric. Softly she pushed him.

"Why...?" Alcide was out of breath. His face was getting nearer, but Sookie stopped him by putting her finger on his lips. Somehow it is nice to know that a man who kisses you is out of breath...but it was just not the right word. Nice. It seemed so bland. Alcide's kiss was not nice...it was good...it was different from...

"Eric," she heard Alcide's voice. Yes, Eric. Different from Eric's. She was going to say it when she realized what Alcide meant.

Eric was standing at the door. His fangs were out and his blue eyes were sending both of them thousand needles that if they had been real, they were both would die right now. Before either she or Alcide could say anything, Eric grabbed Alcide's shoulder and threw him as if he was throwing away a piece of paper... and bum! A loud nice filled the room as Alcide hit the wall; he fell onto the floor, but soon he was on his feet again.

"You stole my son, and now you want to steal my woman from me?" Eric growled. "You are testing my patience, Herveaux."

"Nothing is stolen if it has not been claimed, Northman. You know the rule,"

Eric's growl was louder.

Sookie could not believe what she just heard. What did Alcide just say? Nothing is stolen if it has not been claimed? What did they think she was? A table?

"Sookie is mine," Eric said. His arms spread and his hands formed into claws.

Alcide's bones were cracking. "I am marking her, Northman. She will be mine,"

Sookie looked at them and lost. She did not know what to say. She knew, it had been a mistake, she should not have let Alcide cross the borderline that separated friends from lovers. But it had been too fast and it had happened. She could not change that fact. She could only hope that Eric would listen to her, later. Now, she had to stop them from hurting each other. She tried to find any support from Pam who stood at the door. But she was just standing there, crossing her hands. She looked apathetic; as if she wanted to say, _hey, I am not the one who kissed another man!_

Alcide's transformation was just about to be completed and Eric prepared himself to jump on him, when a weak voice stopped them from doing it. "Sukeh..."

Bill Compton had dragged himself off bed, leaned on the doorframe, and with foam around his mouth, he said, "Call my maker," and bum! He fell to the floor.


	35. In the Foxhole

**Author's Note: Thanks to Vic Vega and N.**

Thirty-four

**In the Foxhole  
**

Eric was speaking in rapid Spanish. His voice was sharp and short. Alcide stood at the corner, leaning on the wall, crossing his arms. He did not say a word, but in his head, he said, _I am sorry if I put you in many problems, Sookie; but I am not sorry for kissing you._

Sookie put the blanket over Bill and sat on the edge. His face was getting greyer in every single minute. If he continued doing it, he would look just like his statue.

"Thank you, Sukeh," he said, almost unheard. "You're very kind, Ma'am."

_"No me importa lo que estés haciendo en este momento. Sólo arrastra tu culo, tan pronto como sea posible, a Bon Temps. NO ME HAGAS TOMAR MEDIDAS M__ÁS DRASTICAS!"_

Sookie jumped because Eric was very loud and she was not the only one. She heard Alcide snarling.

"He is angry," Bill whispered. "Good that you make him angry. Nobody wants to deal with him when he is angry,"

"How do you know that I was the one that made him angry?" Sookie whispered back.

"I have known him long enough to interpret his reactions," a smile was on that grey face. "But don't let him be angry too long,"

Yeah, she knew it. It had happened; she was not going to look for any excuses. The only thing that she could do was to say sorry. Slowly she got up. That was very stupid, very stupid of her to let it happen.

Her chest was heavy. Bill was right; Eric was angry. His reaction towards Alcide was a clear sign of jealousy and the way he reacted to her, which was by ignoring her and treating her as if she had not been in the room, told her clearly what he felt.

Eric closed his phone. "She will come, Bill," he said. "Tomorrow,"

Bill's maker was a woman and spoke Spanish.

"Thank you, Eric."

Then Eric left the room.

Sookie ran after him, but he was not in the living room any more. Only Pam. She gave her a sign that he was outside. Sookie nodded to say thank her, and went outside. Eric was standing at the end of the porch. His long blond hair was dancing on the air. His broad back crunched.

Sookie walked to him. She was ready if Eric turned around and yelled at her. She was even ready to accept if he bared his fangs and attacked her just like what he had almost done in Dallas. She just wanted to talk to him, to hear his voice and to know what he felt.

Nothing happened. Sookie was so closed behind him that she could almost touch his back, but he did not turn around. He did not say anything, either. She closed her eyes and softly, put her hands on his back. Eric still did not react, but Sookie took it as a good sign that he did not remove her hands, also when her hands went to the front, and hugged his waist tightly; he was standing still. She put her head on his back. _Please, say something. Anything. This silence is killing me._

After some times, Sookie did not know how long; Eric touched her hands and turned around. Sookie looked up. His eyes were icy blue. "It was good that you were here," he said. His voice was back to normal. "Nobody else would be able to persuade him to call his maker,"

"Not even you?"

"He would have taken it as an order and I don't want to give him any order. He is a friend, not a subject,"

"Who is his maker?"

"Lorena de Soto," said Eric. "A piece of work,"

"Where is she? Why can't she come tonight?"

"She has something to do," said Eric. "But she's in Jackson now. She said she would come as early as possible,"

Sookie touched his chest. She wanted to talk about what had happened between her and Alcide. She did not like seeing Eric acted as if nothing had happened. "Eric...about what you saw..." before Sookie could finish her sentence, Eric had lifted her, put her legs around his hips so that she could clamp him, and kissed her. Sookie removed the hair that covered his face and returned his kiss as passionately as she could. When Eric put her down, his mouth was half-open, showing his fangs. His eyes were flickering. His fingers touched her lips. He murmured something in his Old Norse. As he saw her lifting her eyebrow, demanding a translation, he said. "I have never felt this way for more than five hundred years. Stackhouse, you are really something,"

Jealous...he had never been jealous for five hundred years...? Sookie could not help herself, but to grin.

"Wipe off that grin! You're lucky that it's been long time ago that I felt this way and don't think about me forgiving that back-stabbing friend of yours!"

It had been stupid to grin, but somehow it felt good to hear that. Sookie touched his face. "It happened, Eric. I won't do it again,"

Eric snorted. "You'll break his heart. Good. He has to learn to respect other people's property."

"I am not your or his to claim. I am my own woman, so forget about claiming me,"

Eric smirked. "Tell him that you are mine and I forgive you for what you've done tonight,"

"Is it not enough that I lived my life for fifteen years hanging on the thread, trying to find you on any man that I dated that I have to break the heart of a friend?"

Eric's eyes were narrowing. "Don't expect me to forgive him too soon. If he ever tries again, even Bill's sickness will not save him,"

Sookie wrapped her arms around his body. "I didn't kiss him," she whispered.

"I know," Eric kissed her lips lightly. "I could feel from your reaction..almost nothing. If I kissed you like that, I would have already been able to fuck you,"

Sookie hated the way he used the word 'fuck'. It was as if he had meant it – having sex with lust and lust only. However, Eric was calm down. She did not want to make him angry again by arguing with him, especially not because of the usage of a word. "You spoke with Lorena in Spanish..." she tried to change the subject. "How many languages do you master, by the way?"

"I don't count. If you lived long enough like me, you would try to do something new to keep yourself busy. Otherwise, you would be bored to death or live in madness,"

"She speaks English, doesn't she?

"Yes, but it's the only way to tell her that I am serious about Bill,"

"What did you say to her?"

"A lot, but I told her, if she did not drag her sorry ass to Bon Temps as soon as possible, I would do something drastic,"

"That's not a way to ask for a help."

"That's the only way to tell her that I was serious. Bill and Lorena have a long history of love and hate,"

"Like Addison and Pamela?"

Eric was suddenly in an alerted position. "Addison was here?"

"Not here, he and his companions stopped us while we were driving here,"

"This is more serious than what I thought." Eric released her hug and took her inside.

Alcide sat at the table and Pam sat at the opposite chair. Their faces looked serious. They must have had a serious conversation.

"I am afraid that Bill won't be able to survive the night," said Pam as Eric and Sookie went in. "He needs fresh blood to keep him alive tonight,"

"I'll go hunting," said Alcide.

"No, human blood will not help him much," said Eric. "Vampires' neither. His body will reject it,"

Sookie understood what Eric wanted to say. Bill needed hers. As she had been wounded fifteen years ago, Bill had given his blood; it was about the time to repay his deed. "I'll do it," she said.

"I'll buy some food," said Pam. "You will need a lot of food afterwards,"

"I'll go with you," said Alcide. "I don't want you to poison her,"

Pam looked at her. "Hmh, that is an interesting idea," she said.

Sookie looked at Pam and saw the twinkling stars in her eyes. Pam and her weird joke.

"Alcide, please stay," said Eric. "There's something that we have to talk, after we take care of Bill,"

Alcide nodded.

Eric and Sookie went inside the room. Bill was looking worse than several minutes ago. He was now as grey as his statue in the rainy season; dark grey, almost black.

"Bill, you have to drink this. The silver is already deep inside your vein, you have to drink fresh blood," Eric said.

"I will only throw up, Eric," Bill opened his eyes. "Godric had tried,"

"I mean this blood," softly, Eric took Sookie's hand, removed the sleeve that covered her wrist, kissed the wrist passionately, his eyes were flickering when slowly his fangs were tearing his teeth flesh, and then...argh...Sookie gasped when his fangs tore her wrists. She grabbed Eric's body to keep herself in balance. Eric licked the blood that was dropping. "Quick, Bill," he said, growling. "Before I lose my control,"

Bill dragged himself to sit. His fangs had been out. The smell of her blood must have given him a new energy that made him suddenly 'alive'.

Eric held her hand as Bill was sucking her blood. He kissed her neck and the part below her ear. His other hand was slowly entering her blouse, touching her, following the shape of her body, even crawling under her bra. Eric was aroused from the sound that Bill made whilst sucking her blood and from the smell of the blood itself. Sookie could feel his dick pushing her hard and if she had turned her head around, she believed, they would have done it, right there. She closed her eyes and tried not to be carried away with what they were doing. It was like a threesome act. One man sucked her dry, and the other aroused her. This was insane. What more insane was that she actually liked it. Her blood seemed to rush and her heartbeat irregularly...suddenly the room started turning around...she felt weak on her knee...she felt her heart jumping.

"Enough, Bill," suddenly Eric said, removing her hand from Bill's mouth with force. "Take this, Sookie," he bit his own wrist and put it on her lips. His cold blood touched her lips and before she knew it, she sucked it. She felt hungry, very hungry. "Slowly, Lover," she heard Eric whispering. "Slowly..."

As Eric asked her to stop, she felt much better. She did not feel weak any more and her heart did not stop jumping. Eric kissed her, cleaned up her mouth more likely, the way he had done it on their very first kiss. "Stay here," he said. He went to the bathroom and returned with a towel. He tore it apart and used it as a bandage.

"What happened?" Sookie asked. "Why did I feel weak?"

"Bill had almost emptied you," said Eric. "One moment longer, he would have been able to turn you. Don't worry," Eric tied the towel. "I stopped him just in time,"

Sookie looked at Bill. His dark grey colour disappeared, but he still did not look fresh. He was back on his former position. Blood was all over his mouth, her blood. Sookie wanted to clean up the blood, but Eric whispered. "Let it be, he's sleeping now. He needs that,"

"Would I change into vampire?"

"No," said Eric. "You drank my blood, instead of his. If you took his, then yes, you would have been turned,"

Sookie felt her knees weak again. Jesus! Eric caught her before she fell, and then he carried her out.

"What happened?" asked Alcide.

"I was about to become a vampire," said Sookie, still was not able to believe her luck.

"What?"

"Bill drank too much," said Eric. "Don't worry, she will be fine,"

No, not mentally. This experience...she swore, she would not have it again! Once was enough!

Pam returned with a lot of food. Mostly they were meat and dried fruit. And Sookie ate like she had never eaten before. Hamburger, steak, a Chinese food, which name she could not pronounce and dried apricots. A lot of them. People say, when you're hungry, everything tastes delicious. And it was. Every single of the food tasted delicious! The meat was so tender that it melted right inside her tongue, and the spices, it's not only one, but more than five different spices. She could not tell the name, but she could taste it. And the wine they used to marinade the meat...ehm...the onion on the hamburger meat, crunchy and fresh...She had to know the name of the restaurant, where Pam had bought the food. She must try that place. Restaurants, which served delicious food like this, were difficult to find, if she found one, she was normally loyal to it. At the end, Pam gave her a cup of tea, and Sookie swore, her stomach was about to burst. "Eat again, tomorrow," she said. "And sleep a lot," her eyes aimed at Eric. "I mean really sleep. Otherwise you won't be functional."

As her stomach started to settle down and she was able to concentrate, she realized that Eric and Alcide had been eyeing each other the whole time. It was weird, but she could have sworn that she could feel what Eric felt. He was still angry, and there was an eagerness to strike somebody, Alcide perhaps. Was she really feeling it or was she assuming it?

"I thought you said that you'd be in Baton Rouge," Sookie opened her mouth, tried to break the ice.

"I was," said Eric. Thousand of cold needles flew from his eyes, straight to her. He seemed not to like being reminded what he might have been missing, had he stayed in Baton Rouge tonight. "I could not get into the Palace. It's guarded by men in silver suits,"

"They work for the Queen? It doesn't make sense," said Alcide. "Although, what happened lately to my people did not exclude the possibility that vampires behind this treachery,"

"Come on, Alcide! You really don't think that vampires, who just came out of their coffins, would put the fate of their kind in jeopardy?" said Sookie.

"Simon was turned into half-life, only vampires could do that!"

"Was he bitten or attacked?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Was he bitten or attacked?"

"You saw him, Sookie,"

"I remember Lafayette poured some kind of powder on his wound, but I didn't check other part of his body. André Paul told me that I should check any half-life to know if he was attacked or bitten,"

Alcide looked thoughtful. "If he had been attacked...somebody had put vampire blood inside his body...enough to replace the amount of his own blood...."

"That's not possible," said Pam. "Trading vampire blood is illegal and punished severely,"

"André Paul seemed to tell you a lot," Alcide gave her a sharp look.

"He's clever," said Eric. "He set himself apart from those people by giving Sookie a little information. He was certain that Sookie would tell me. He's sending his message via Sookie....to me,"

"Do you trust him?"

"I don't trust anybody," Eric's blue eyes turned icy when he looked at Alcide. "But," he smiled. "I like giving human another chance,"

"I am not a human," Alcide said. "I take any risk that comes to me,"

"Don't be a dick head, Alcide," said Pam. "We all know that alone, the werewolves would not stand any chance,"

Alcide combed his hair with his fingers. He stood up. "I hate being helpless," he said. "There must be something that we – the werewolves, could do,"

"Find the murder," said Eric. "That would be the first steps; and the silver bullets maker. There has got to be some human, who made that."

"I know some families of weretigers in Jackson," Alcide said. "But then, I can't protect Sookie during the day. I don't want to take her there,"

"I am not sure if you should be around Sookie any more, Alcide," Eric's eyes were narrowing.

Alcide snarled. "You are not her owner,"

"Oh, please!" Pam rolled her eyes. She wanted to say something, but Eric's sharp looks changed her mind. She looked so annoyed as if she had sunken her teeth into something rotten.

"Is there any of you who has an idea that I might not need any protection?" asked Sookie. Both men looked at her and then gave her a look, which could be interpreted as: _Yeah, right! _"Look, somebody has to go into the Leclreq Wellness Centre and as far as I can tell, somebody has to contact the Queen, somehow. We don't know what kind of information that Sam might bring, but one thing for certain, we have to enter the Palace. If the King is the one who runs Louisiana now, maybe we should give him what he wants. Me,"

"Out of the question," said Eric and Alcide, at the same time.

"Look, you have no chance to enter the Palace..." said Sookie to Eric, which was answered by a lifted eyebrow (didn't he say that, just a couple of minutes ago?), "And you Alcide, you would have to go through a lot of barrier to reach the palace. Not that I am questioning your skill and power," Sookie added hastily. "But wouldn't it be easier to let me in and talk to the Queen or King?"

Nobody answered.

"Come on guys, give me some credit here!"

"I don't like the idea," said Alcide.

"Neither do I," said Eric.

"But it's the only way, and you both know it," said Pam. "I'll accompany her. André knew, if he wants to win the Queen's heart again, he will need me,"

"Who should accompany you during the day?"

"Weston and Smith," said Sookie.

"That's my girl," said Pam, which Alcide did not react to it well.

"Too dangerous," he said. "Too dangerous,"

"Either way, she has to go in," said Eric to her surprise. She thought, Eric was going to refuse the idea.

"I thought you didn't like the idea," said Alcide.

"I didn't and still don't, but somebody has to go inside the Palace," said Eric. "I can go inside the palace in a question of second; however, I don't want to encourage His and Her Majesty's negative sentiments against me. I have already challenged Her Majesty's decision to kill André Paul; if I challenged her again by breaking and entering her palace uninvited, I would face more problems and it would not give any benefit to anybody,"

"But how to get inside?" asked Sookie.

"Pam," slowly Eric rose. "Call Addison and tell him that Miss Stackhouse is asking for an audience in front of the King and the Queen,"

Pam's face was sour, but she got up and did what Eric had said.

"Sookie, can I talk to you for a moment?" asked Alcide.

"Whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of Eric, Alcide," said Sookie. She looked at Eric and thought that she would find a smile on his face, but no, he was as expressionless as ever.

Alcide's face looked thoughtful. "It's about James," he said. "And the Square Stone. I have to give my clan an answer,"

Sookie looked at Eric. His blue eyes were firm and his face was hard like stone when he said, "My son needs to learn how to be a man," he said. "If he has to do it, facing his own fate without my presence, then so be it,"

Sookie closed her eyes. She felt as if thousand watts of electricity ran down on her spines hearing Eric calling James 'my son' with such a proud voice. Tears were on her cheek when she looked at Alcide and said, "Yes, Alcide. You have my permission,"

* * *

A soft knock on the door woke James up. He had been trying to close his eyes for hours and exactly at the moment he managed to do it, somebody had to knock on the door!

For two days, he had not been able to sleep well. It was not just about Victoria, who he believed, slept some houses away from him, but also the whole thing in this ranch. First, it was the journey. From Beaumont city to Running Creek was like forever. The main road was perfect, smooth, nothing to feel, but as soon as the car turned on the smaller streets, and then the dusty road that led to the ranch, he swore he could feel each and every rock that the tires rolled over. He felt really sorry for Mom that she had to drive back on the same road in the same day!

Then they had arrived at the ranch. He thought that finally, he could get some rest and sleeps, but he was wrong. Everybody and he meant everybody – old and young men, women, girls, and some children; come out to see him. They did not touch him, thank god, but they circled him, especially the men with their eyes fixed on him. At the beginning, their eyes had looked normal, and then gradually, they were changing into yellowish, just like Colin's. _Think something nice. Think something nice. _Repeatedly he told himself. Victoria....Victoria with her black hair open, lying on his bed, naked. Victoria's lips, which were as soft as her skin...Victoria's ass, which was round and firm...Victoria's green eyes, which turned into orange when she was in her fox shape...Victoria....slowly, he felt calm. He closed his eyes and when he opened it, he looked at each and every eyes, which met his with confidence. _In my blood runs the blood of the oldest wolf in the wood, _he said in his head. _By the name of the wolf that gave me his blood, you will not defeat me. You will not defeat me._

One by one, they turned their faces away. Then they left him alone.

In fact, they had left him alone for two days. Nobody talked to him, except Prescott and the five Hounders. Victoria did not even bother to change a word with him. She had always something to do. He did not mind, but if only he had been able, he would have preferred to have something different. Victoria and him, somewhere, in the field, or anywhere, just them.

The soft knock was harder now.

"All right, all right," he said. Sleepily, he looked for his t-shirt and put it on. What time was it anyway? He opened the door. "Yes?"

A sweet smell of vanilla reached his nose. His sleepiness was immediately gone, like dew in the early morning when the sun comes out. Before he had been able to say any word, Victoria pushed him inside and closed the door. "What..." he wanted to ask a question, but she closed his mouth with her hand.

"Don't say a word," she said.

He nodded.

She removed her hand and replaced it with her lips. Her lips were warm and her breath was hot like fire.

"Victoria..." he sighed among her kisses. "I miss you so,"

"Sstt..." she said, pulling his hand and take him to the bed. With one push, he fell to the bed.

"How could you go in?" he asked, watching her taking off her t-shirt. How could she enter the house without being seen? She couldn't be in her animal cloak, otherwise she would have not entered his room with full cloth.

But when she removed her bra, James did not care any more how she had entered the house. She was here now, with him. Half-naked. Slowly, she crawled on the bed and started kissing her. He wanted to touch her breast, but her hand stopped him. "Don't do anything," she said. But he wanted to touch them. Once, just once. He wanted to know how they were in his hands. But Victoria took his hands and put them above his head and told him to close his eyes. Passionately, she kissed him. Then, one of his hand was led to go down. He moaned when his and her hand entered his boxer. Her hand on his dick felt so warm. "Swift..." he called her fox name. This was good. Her hand moved faster. Oh...Vick...

Tok, tok, tok!

"James!" a man called his name.

Did it have to be now, when he and Victoria....

"James, wake up, please!" The knocking on the door was louder.

"Victoria...you have to go now..." he opened his eyes. "Vi..." nobody was there. It was only him lying alone on the bed. He looked down and found his own hand inside his boxer, holding his dick, which was hard and standing. He was dreaming. "Coming..." he said miserably. He dragged his feet to open the door.

Prescott was there, standing in front of the door. "Cooper wants to see you," he said.

"Now?"

"Yes, now."

"Why doesn't he come by himself?"

"Don't ask me. I am just his messenger,"

"I'll put my cloth on,"

Prescott nodded and his eyes caught James' boxer, which was building a tent, but he did not say anything. James did not care. If Prescott asked, he would answer that he had been having a nice dream about his girlfriend before the faery ruined it. However, the faery did not say a word.

James put his cloth on. Why would Cooper want to see him anyway? The sound of the closed door made him turn around. Prescott was inside the room. He put his finger on his lips. Then he pointed at the window. He wanted them to leave through the window? What was going on?

Prescott opened the window and jumped. James pitched his arms to tell himself that he was not dreaming. Ouch! No, he was not dreaming.

"James!" whispered Prescott. "Quick!"

"Where are we going?" James climbed down.

Again, Prescott put his finger on his lips. He took James' hand and dragged him. "Somebody wants to see you," he said, after they had been a bit far from the house.

"Cooper?"

Prescott did not answer. He hushed him and asked him to move faster. They were moving away from the ranch. James was afraid that the Hounders could see them. They would ask a lot of questions if they caught them.

The lights from the Hounders' houses were getting smaller; the surrounding became darker and darker. There was almost nothing to see, but the shadow of trees. The sound of wind howling on the trees' top made him jumpy. He had never been outside in the night like this, especially not with a stranger, whom he knew nothing about. It was foolish of him simply to follow him. He turned his head around. He could not see the lights any more. They must have been far away from the ranch.

_Don't worry, my friend. I am here._

Suddenly a voice, speaking in an old language, filled his ears. His spirit was lifted. Godric was there, somewhere in the darkness. His fear was gone. He was going to call his name, when he heard Godric's voice in his head. _Don't say a word_. _Don't let the faery know that you can read vampires' mind._

Prescott stopped. "Godric," he said. "I did what you asked me to,"

"Thank you, Prescott," Godric's voice was heard, somewhere.

"Godric, where are you?" asked James.

A light blinked. Some steps away from them, Godric was standing with a flashlight. James ran to him and hugged him. "I am glad that you are here, Grandfather,"

Godric laughed. "You are not serious about calling me 'Grandfather', are you?"

James let him go. Looking at the figure that was smaller than he was, he grinned. "Nah. You are not a grandfather type,"

"Godric," the faery walked forward.

"Do you know each other?" asked James.

"Yes, from the old days. How is Niall?"

"His Highness is fine," said the faery. "He asked me to give you his greetings,"

"Thank you,"

"Who is Niall?"

"Your great grandfather," Godric said.

"Your father?" asked James.

"No, your mother's grandfather," said Prescott. "A mighty Prince of The Bon Temps Realm,"

"Mom's grandfather is a Prince?"

"Long story, James." said Godric. "I'll tell you all about it later. There is another pressing matter," he said. "By tomorrow, the Hounders will decide if you are worthy as their member or not. If they decide that you are not, leave this place immediately. Prescott will take you to my place,"

"Why? Why do I have to leave this place?"

"You will be taken to the Square Stone in a matter of days, your mother told me. Without the protection of the Grey Hound, your fate would be decided by the rest of the clans,"

"What? But Colin has chosen me as his brother, and he is the leader of the clan!"

"His voice is considered, but not as a law. In their council, he will be treated like the other members,"

"What about Alcide?" James was panicking. "The Long Tooth will protect me, won't they?"

"Yes, they will, and so will your father," Godric looked at Prescott. "Prescott will not let you alone, my friend,"

"This is not what I imagined," said James. "I thought...." he had not thought. In his head had been only a good time in the ranch, and after he had known that Victoria would come with them, he wanted to be with her away from Mom. His heart sank. Mom had been right all along. She must have known about it, or like always, she must have trusted her instinct more than what the people had said. "What should I do?"

Godric took his hand. Strange, his cold hands always gave him a strength and tenderness. Godric was always like a rock, where he could rest his worries. He was always there for him. In the nights, when he had been younger and he couldn't sleep because he had heard noises everywhere, Godric would have secretly entered his room and watched him, until he fell asleep. Sometimes, he told him stories and sometimes he sang a song, a song that according to Godric was his father's song.

Slowly, Godric moved away.

"Where are you going, Godric?" asked James. "What should I do?"

"I don't have so much time, James. Listen to your heart. Listen to him carefully and follow him." Then, he stopped. "Talk to the shifter, Prescott. She could be useful,"

Victoria? What were they going to do with Victoria? Would Victoria be with him?

"_Likt älskande par, strömarna ila. _As young lovers be, streams flow in a hurry," said Godric. "Don't be too happy, James. Things might not turn into what you wish them to be. Listen to your heart, Child. Listen to your heart,"

Then, his figure disappeared in the dark.

James turned around and looked for Prescott. "What does he mean, Prescott?"

"The Old One always speaks in riddle," said the faery. "I think we shall wait and see. Come, we'd better go back to your room before they notice that you are not in the room,"

They started walking.

"Is that the reason you are here, Prescott? To be my bodyguard?" James felt weird to say that word. He was not a celebrity. He did not need a bodyguard.

"His Highness asked us to be ready to assist you, any time you need it," he said. "And I volunteered,"

"Because of Cooper?"

"Among others," said the faery. "I've been in the wood too long. I want to see the outside world,"

"He's married, Prescott. His wife will be sad if she knows,"

"Then let's keep her not knowing," he said. "I am not his keeper, James. He can either have me or leave me,"

"I don't like to hear that. I don't know what I will say if she asks me one day,"

"Say what your heart tells you, James. I won't be angry with you, neither...." suddenly Prescott grabbed him, pulled him behind a tree, and put his hand on James' mouth. Somebody was there. Prescott sensed them or heard them; James was not sure. Then, a familiar sweet smell reached his nose. Victoria. He removed Prescott's hand. "Victoria..." he whispered. Prescott let him go and like a flash he was gone. Suddenly he heard a loud shriek. Before he was able to do anything, Prescott had returned with Victoria. He threw her on the ground.

"Prescott!" yelled James. "What are you doing?"

"I hate being stalked," he said.

James helped Victoria to stand up. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I ask the same question," she said. "What are you and this man doing here? It's in the middle of the night! You're supposed to stay in your room and sleep. Tomorrow is a big day for you!"

"You are worried about me." James smiled. He knew, he was not supposed to be glad, but he was. He brushed her hair. "That's nice...very nice," his face was getting closer.

"Stop it," said Victoria. "You are already in problem here, don't add more,"

"What? Am I not allowed to go out with Prescott?"

"You know what I mean!" said Victoria; she sounded annoyed.

James looked at her and cursed the darkness. He wanted to see her face, he wanted to see her lips. He would give anything to be able to kiss those lips again. In the dark like this, it was impossible to see anything, except two orange eyes shining...orange eyes...why did her eyes change into orange?

"Someone is coming," said Prescott. "Take him away from here, Shifter. I'll try to stop them,"

Victoria grabbed his hand and asked him to run as fast as he could.

Victoria Luna lived up her cloak as a swift fox. She ran very fast, James almost could not catch up with her. He felt his heart pondering and the wind that passed him by made loud noises. The distance between them was slowly getting bigger. "Vick..." he yelled out her name. "Wait for me..." he stopped. He could not run any more. He felt his heart beating so fast, he was afraid it could burst out.

Victoria stopped and went back to James. "We need a place to hide," she said.

"What are we running from?" James held his knees and tried to catch his breath.

"You are out of the boundaries of the Grey Hound. They will be very angry with you, if they find you out here. Whether the people who are coming to our direction are members of the Grey Hound or not, it is better if they don't see you,"

"And you...why are you not in your room?"

"I can't sleep," she said. "Too many smell, too many noises," she patted his back. "Come, I know a place around here. I found it last night,"

"Last night you were out too?" Damn! He should have done it, too.

"Come!" Victoria reached out her hand. "I smell them already,"

"Werewolves?"

"Yes,"

"Hounders?"

"I don't know. Come, James!"

James started running again, following Victoria. When she stopped, he could only be thankful about it. The place that Victoria mentioned was a small hole, hidden behind some kind of bushes. It was a fox hole.

"Go in, James. Fast. They are getting closer!"

James was hesitated to go in. It was a foxhole; how big could it be? He went inside with his feet first and like entering some kind of tunnel, he sled in. The tunnel was small, but long; long enough that he could lie there comfortably. His feet touched the ground and his head was some inches away beneath the entrance.

"Cover your face," said Victoria.

James did what she said.

Victoria sled in. Her warm body touched his and within a second, James felt his heart racing again. Her sweet smell, her soft skin rubbed against his, and without being able to stop it, he has a hard on, pushing her.

"James..."

"Sorry..."

"Are you always running around like this?"

"Only when you are around," Or when he was thinking about her...He moved, tried to free his hands from being locked. The hole was definitely too small for both of them. Now they were very close to each other. Any kind of movement from either of them rubbed the body of the other. James was kinda enjoying it. He could not touch her, but he could feel her every part of her body. It was like he was on top of her, only that he did it standing.

Victoria pulled the bushes so that the hole was covered again. James took the chance to try to touch her.

"James...please stop," Victoria sounded out of breath. "Please..."

His face was so close to hers, so close that his nose touched hers...if he changed the direction of his face, he would be able to kiss her.

"James...I promised your..."

"Nobody sees us," he whispered. "I miss you, Victoria...I really miss you...I'll die if I can't see you any more..." his lips were searching for hers. "I love you, Victoria..."

"James...please...stop it..." But she did not refuse him when finally he kissed her. Maybe she refused him, but she could not move. Whatever the reason was, her mouth was close. He had to kiss her repeatedly until finally she gave up and welcomed his kisses. He felt his body was getting harder as his dick was getting harder. She did not complain about it any more, she even moved to make him in a more comfortable position. The rubbing, the sound of her breath and moaning...James felt the foxhole was getting smaller and smaller....

Suddenly...Victoria stopped her kisses.

"What..."

"Sssttt," she said. "Don't move, don't even make a sound. They are here,"

James looked up. He did not see anything. He did not know with what Victoria covered the hole, but it must have been very tight.

The sounds of steps were coming to their place.

_Don't let them hear us, _in desperation, James said in his head. _Don't let them sense us. God, don't let them..._

It seemed Victoria sensed his fear because she pressed her body close to his and softly kissed him. "I am here," she whispered. "Relaxed...they might smell you..."

James closed his eyes. Slowly, his body calmed down. Victoria was here. If they found them, at least Victoria was there with him. He was not alone.

"Do you hear something?" a smoky voice came from somewhere above.

"Somebody is here," another voice growled. "I smell it,"

James felt his heart stop beating as he heard the sound of bushes being torn. Victoria's hands felt so cold on his legs. Her breath was short. She had angst. He may not get afraid. He had to protect her. Think something nice. Think about dogs....Dean...Duke...he hoped that blue Doberman felt him...Duke...come boy...

The lid was opened. Two pairs of bright yellow lights were on the top of their heads looked straight at them.

James looked back at them and in desperation, he hissed. "You don't see us, you don't hear us. Go!"

Those yellow lights blinked and then they stood still; and then, "Nothing here," he said. His voice was growling like before. Then he closed back the lid.

James took a deep breath. Thank God! He looked at Victoria and wondered why her eyes turned into orange.

"Keane will come tomorrow," James heard a voice. "He wants to see the boy,"

Then it was quiet.

"It's not good," the growling man said. "Cooper is protecting him. He believes the boy is the son of a very old wolf and the boy will bring good things to the clans,"

"That's not good," the third voice was heard. "You and your mambo-jumbo...I don't believe them, but obviously your priest does. I don't want to mess around with your priest or his boss,"

"You are not a werewolf," said the growling man. "You can approach him out side the ranch. But be careful, he has a dog now,"

"I hate dogs," said the third voice. "But I know somebody who would do anything for the boy, if he is really whom I heard he is. And the dog...it shouldn't be hard to make him disappear,"

Again, it was quiet. James had to restrain himself not to make any noise at all. They wanted to kill Duke...Duke, stay boy. Stay, wherever you are...don't let anybody touch you...but me...

"You're a fool to kill Purefoy's cousin," said the growling man. "It will only make him leave his nest,"

"I told you to be careful so you would not be followed. You're supposed to be in Beaumont, and not Bon Temps. Besides, you told me yourself that he was suspicious about you. I didn't see any other choice,"

"You drew Northman's attention!"

"Don't worry about him, he's been taken care of,"

_Papa..._James gasped. He had to tell Papa.

"Are you sure you did not find anything?" asked the third voice. "I could've sworn that I heard something,"

The sound of steps was getting near. Then, James heard a familiar sound. Clack, clack. Somebody had cocked a gun.

"What are you doing? You know that you should not carry around a weapon..."

"Relax. It's not a silver one,"

James pressed his eyes tightly. With all his might, he thought about the pair of yellow eyes that he had seen. _Stop him! Stop him now!_

"I would think twice if I were you," said the third voice. "This gun might not be a silver one, but it's able to bleed you,"

_Make him stop! _

"He's right, Táysha..." said the smoky voice.

"I am not your friend," said the growling voice.

"What the fuck is going on with him?"

"We'd better....who is that?"

It was quiet, but like the quietness before the storm, the air felt heavy in his lungs. Somebody was out there...Prescott?

_Go with them..protect the faery!_

Loud noises of cracking bones were in the air.

James focused himself on the smoky voice. He felt his heart beating irregularly, but he did not care. _Both of you, protect the faery. Kill the human. _The human may not return to the city and tell the news to his people. Papa had to be warned. "Kill the human!" he hissed.

"James..." he heard Victoria's voice. "My James...my love...what are you doing...."

"Guys...what are you doing...? Don't force me to use this....Fuck! I know I should have had the silver ones with me...."

"James...don't..." Victoria's soft voice reached his ears, but he ignored it. They had to go, they had to stop that human from leaving the place.

"Take him," he said. "Take him away...kill him..."

"Guys....argh..." then the air was filled with the sound of guns, growling and snarling sounds, which slowly moved away from them.

"James...can you hear me...please James...."

James opened his eyes. He felt his head very heavy and his heart pondered.

"My darling James...don't close your eyes...focus...focus..."

James tried to do what Victoria said but his eyes were getting heavier.

"Open your eyes, James...."

"I can't..."

"James....don't do this to me..."

The air was getting heavier as his eyes refused to stay open. He heard noises all around, but he could not listen to them any more.

"James...! Help! Prescott!"


	36. The Morning After

Thirty-five

**The Morning After**

Everything slowly returned to him. James saw the light; it was blurring at first, but then it was getting clearer. The smell of the sweet vanilla calmed him down. Victoria was around him, somewhere.

"My goodness!"

He heard her sweet voice. Slowly he opened his eyes. He was back in his room, lying on his bed. Prescott was there too, standing behind Victoria, who was sitting on the bed, beside him, holding his hand.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You bled," said Prescott. "Blood came out of your nose and ears. What have you been thinking?"

"I was talking to the wolves," he said.

"Did I not tell you that you should think something nice when you were doing it? You can't and shouldn't talk to them in anger. You will consume your own power and body. You are not ready yet. You could die because of it!"

"It's Papa, Prescott. I can't let them do something bad to Papa, can I?" He pulled himself up. "I must tell Papa about it!" Ouch, his head….it was pondering like crazy.

"Godric's son was not born yesterday, James. He knows how to take care of himself!"

He knew that Papa had not been born yesterday and he knew that Papa was a clever man, but still, Papa did not know that they had planned something for him, somewhere, somehow. "Was I really bleeding?" he asked to Victoria.

Victoria nodded. "I thought I might have lost you," her lips were trembling. "Please, don't do this to me again..." Her eyes were glistening from tears, which were slowly flowing down on her cheek.

James touched her face and wiped off those tears. "I won't," he said, smiling. But his smile was gone when he saw his hand. It was covered with long grey reddish hair. "What happened to me?" he shrieked. "What happened to me?"

Prescott held his shoulder and asked him to lie down.

"Prescott...am...I...am I turning into a werewolf?" James tried to break free, but Prescott was too strong for him. "I am not a werewolf..."

"Prescott..." Victoria touched his hip and gave him a sign to let him go. Prescott move aside and James got up and wanted to leave the bed when Victoria took him into her arms. "I am not a werewolf......"

"Sssttt," Victoria whispered.

"I am not a werewolf..." he was trembling. They had not bitten him...they would not change him into a werewolf....

Victoria held him tighter and stroked his hair.

"You are not a werewolf, James," said Prescott. "Your blood is a wolf-blood. You can choose to be one of them or return to be a human. His Highness asked me to tell you this, whatever you will decide, you are welcome in our world, because you carry our blood as well. It is a fact that nobody will deny you,"

"What do you mean I can choose?" Slowly James let Victoria go. His hands were still shaking, but he was not panicking any more.

"You won't be able to take shape of a wolf, but you can communicate with them without saying the words. Just like the dogs, they will listen to you and answer to your questions. But if you choose to be a human, you will lose your power and live as a human,"

"What? How?"

"Your ancestors were the Dire Wolf, the race of wolf, which roamed the place long before the Grey Wolf – the ancestor of the Grey Hound. The wolf that had sacrificed his life for your father was one of the last of his kind. Think wisely before you decide. To live as a wolf is not easy. You have to follow the rules of the pack, even when it is against your will. The pack will be your family; its need and its survival become your concern. You have to be ready to give up your life for them, and it sometimes means you have to do something against the wish of your parents,"

"And if I chose not to?"

"Then you'd live like many other human, do what they do. You won't be able to communicate with the wolves or dogs,"

"Would they – the werewolves, be after me even if I chose to be a human?"

"I cannot say," said the faery. His fair face was troubled. "His Highness did not tell me anything about it,"

James felt his head pondering again as if somebody had hit him a hammer. It came and go just like the beating of his heart. What should he do?

Victoria touched his cheek. "Try to get some sleeps," she said. "You need to gain your strength. Tomorrow night they will invite you to the Clan's Council and possibly this Keane person will come too. You have to pretend that you don't know anything about it. Nobody may know what happened tonight," she whispered in his ears. "It's our secret,"

James took her hand. "Don't leave me alone; sleep me with tonight...please..."

Victoria hesitated, but then she nodded.

"I stay here," said Prescott.

What? James looked at him in awe. Oh, come on Prescott...let me be alone with my girl, he said in his head.

"After the thing that happened tonight, Master James, I won't leave you alone any more,"

Great, that's just great!

"Do you have t-shirt or boxer I can borrow?" asked Victoria. "I don't want to go to bed with dirty clothes,"

Her sentence made him realize that he had not noticed at all that Victoria was covered with soil. Her t-shirt and jeans were dirty, there were stains on her face, they looked like a mixture between soil and blood, and her black hair was untidy and dirty.

"In my bag," he said, feeling guilty. He should have paid more attention to her and not only thought about himself.

Victoria stood up, took a t-shirt and a boxer from his bag and went to the bathroom.

"Prescott!" he hissed. "You could stand outside, couldn't you? I want to be alone with her,"

"It's better that they thought that you had been with me than with her. Cooper told me that you are not allowed to be alone with her. It was Colin's order. I don't want you or her get into problems,"

Mom...James sighed, again he felt guilty. He had given her a promise too, that he would stay away from Victoria...but he could not. He wanted to, but he could not; and he was glad that Victoria felt the same way. He could tell from her kisses back there in the foxhole. Slowly his heart beat faster, he felt like thousand ants crawling on his legs and his dick was getting harder. He cursed himself in his head. Why did he get a boner so easily every time he thought about her? Was he obsessed about her or something? Or was it a normal reaction of a person, who was in love?

Victoria went out of the bathroom. Her figure looked smaller in his t-shirt and boxer. The shape that she had was disappeared, covered by the loose garment. She crawled on his bed and laid down beside him. "Good night," she said and she closed her eyes.

James lay down and he was going to hug her when Victoria turned around. "I said good night, James," she said. Her voice sounded harsh. James sighed. Not even a goodnight kiss! She must have heard what Prescott said. He turned around. "Good night. Good night, Prescott,"

The faery did not answer. His figure looked tall and solemn under the deeming lights.

James switched off the light. This was absolutely not what he imagine of having Victoria on his bed! He closed his eyes and soon, the tiredness took over him.

* * *

James woke up with a heavy head. A familiar voice spoke inside his room loudly. His intonation was up and down as if he was singing. Only one man did that, and it was Uncle Jason; and he did it only when he was angry.

"What is he doing in your room?" Uncle Jason asked when their eyes met.

"What is going on? What time is it? And where is Victoria?"

"It's around seven and who is Victoria? Did you have a girl last night?"

James turned around. Victoria. She slept in his room...not any more. She must have flown from his window again. James forced himself to sit. Jesus, his head was heavy.

"You had a girl...I hope you didn't something stupid...and him..." Uncle Jason pointed at Prescott. "What is he doing here?"

Uncle Jason talked about something stupid? Laffy had told him many stories about Uncle Jason, stories about Uncle Jason, his women and their angry husbands or boyfriends, but James decided not to say anything about it. He did not want Laffy to have a row with Uncle Jason. "Guarding me," answered James.

"Guarding you? Against what?"

"Didn't you hear anything last night?"

"Nope," Uncle Jason stood uncomfortably in front of him. "The Ranchers didn't let me out of my room,"

James pulled his hair. God, this headache!

"Your dog left the room and I couldn't stop him,"

"Duke...is he okay?"

"Sort of,"

"What do you mean by 'sort of'?"

"I don't know what's going on, but that dog left the ranch's ground and he isn't letting anyone getting near to him. I am afraid your dog is getting mad, James,"

"No, he isn't," he tried to stand up, but his knees were weak and before he knew it, he fell. Uncle Jason caught him just right in time before he touched the floor.

"James, are you okay? I got a very bad feeling about this place," Uncle Jason said. "If I were you, I would leave this place immediately,"

"I am fine, thanks," he tried to get up. Uncle Jason held his hand and helped him sit on the bed, "Thanks, Uncle. Oh, I have a terrible headache,"

"You forced yourself too hard last night, James," said the faery. "Headache is the least that you should worry about,"

"What is he talking about?"

"Long story, Uncle," he said. "I'll tell you when we're back in Bon Temps. Why are you here, by the way?"

"The Ranchers want me to tell you about the dog. They want me to ask you if you agree that your dog is sent away,"

"No!" His sleepiness was suddenly gone. "Duke, come here, boy!"

"He won't hear you, James. He's far away in the East, near the Pine forest,"

The Pine forest; that must have been where they had been. Inside the foxhole, with Victoria, listening to somebody planning something awful to Papa and the others.

"There were intruders last night," he said. "Duke must have caught their smells,"

"From where you heard that?"

"Listen, Uncle Jason. You have to return to Bon Temps. You have to tell Mom and Eric that they are in danger, especially Eric,"

Uncle Jason's jaw dropped. "You want me to tell Vampire Eric that he's in danger? You're kidding, right? Me? He will only snort me to dead,"

"You're a weretiger now, Eric will listen to you,"

"Yeah, right. As if your mother, my own little sister, took me seriously! Ever,"

"You know she does, Uncle. You're her only brother. Of course, she will listen to you. Otherwise, why do you think she asked you to be here with me?"

Uncle Jason scratched his un-itchy head. After a while, he said. "Nah, I'd better stay here with you. I don't trust that man over there,"

"Prescott is a friend, Uncle. You'd better learn to trust him,"

Uncle Jason looked at Prescott. His eyes were narrowing. "Perhaps," he said. "But don't be too comfortable, you! I am watching you!" then he looked at James. "You'd better get some more sleep. I'll tell them that you have a headache,"

"No, no." he said. "I'll go out soon. Could you get me some aspirins, please? Thanks."

After taking some aspirins, washing his face, James put on a fresh set of cloth. He had mixed feelings as he saw that the hair, which had covered his hands last night was gone. He should have been happy, right, now that he looked normal again. However, he felt like something was missing. He sighed. He had not had those hair for a short time, maybe even some minutes, why must he feel that way?

James checked his body thoroughly to make sure that there was no sign of biting or scratching. The only mark that he could find was on the side of his body. It must have been from the sliding and his lips felt dry and there were some little wounds on them. He grinned. Victoria's kisses. She had kissed him passionately, so passionately that she must have been biting them; but he had enjoyed her kisses so much that he had not even realized it. He did not mind. He loved being kissed by Victoria like last night. He touched his lips. Yes, he loved it. If he had another chance or chances, he would do it again gladly. He was going to put his boxer in the basket when he saw Victoria's clothes. He told himself not to forget to put those clothes in a plastic bag and gave it to her. As he went out of the bathroom, a set of blue eyes welcomed him. Duke. He sat in front of the door. His neck was straight and his ears were standing.

"Duke!"

The Doberman stood and shook his docked tail.

He patted its head. "My boy, you know who's the boss, don't you, Boy?"

"Of course, he does," Cooper's voice answered him.

"What is going on? Why does everybody think that my room is like a train station?" he asked. "This is my room, isn't it?"

Cooper looked uncomfortable. "Duke was uncontrollable," he said.

"Of course he is," he said. "He is my dog. I told him to listen only to me,"

"My apologies, James,"

Cooper's voice made him realized how rude he was. His voice was soft and sounded as if he tried to calm him down.

"I am sorry, Cooper," he said. "I don't mean to be rude,"

Cooper smiled. "You seemed to have a rough night," he said.

"I did," James said, but he did not have any intention to explain it.

"I see," said Cooper, his eyebrows met in the middle. He was curious, but he did not pursue his curiousity. James was glad that Cooper did it because honestly, he would not know how to answer him. "Let's go. Breakfast is about to begin,"

Like yesterday, they had breakfast in some kind of a hall. And like yesterday, their buffet was amazing. At the end of the table, different kinds of bagels were arranged like pyramids. Some of them had sesame seed on them, like little gold, its brilliant golden colour made his mouth watery. Then, there were some plain ones, side by side with the pumpkin seed decorated brown bagels. The next plates were sausages plates. He did not know what kind of sausages they had, but they all looked delicious. Then plates of cheese, bowls of jam, peanut butter, honey, yogurt, cornflakes...Jesus, what were they having? A marriage party or something?

Either it was because of all the food or from last night, James was hungry; so hungry that he swore he could eat a horse. Uncle Jason's eyes were wide open when he saw the amount of food he had on his plate. He took five bagels, some cheese, bacon, sausages, half-eggs with mustard; salmon paste, black little things which looked like eggs or seed on them and a glass of orange juice. "I am hungry," he said, sitting down.

"I don't say anything," he said. He drank his coffee.

"Uudon'aeftu," James said with half a bagel inside his mouth.

Uncle Jason cringed when he heard that. "Lucky for you, your momma is not here. Because it sounded very dirty to me,"

James coughed as the bagel entered the wrong channel. He drank the juice. "I said, you don't have to," he said.

"I knew that," Uncle Jason's eyes were twinkling. "I know that you have a big mouth just like your momma, but your mouth isn't big enough to be an oven. So eat slowly!"

But he was so hungry! He had never felt so hungry like this before! And this food was delicious! It was just like at Laffy's, only better; but he would not say that to Laffy, otherwise he would go bananas!

After the breakfast, which if it had been up to James could go on forever, the men and women of the Grey Hound Clan left the hall to do their works. James was left alone. Doc had taken Uncle Jason out. He wanted to show him the area, he said. He was welcomed to stay, Doc said. The ranch could use an additional muscle. Duke, which had been staying outside during breakfast, entered the hall. His blue fur moved like waves when the soft morning breeze touched it. He licked his master's hand as if he wanted to tell him that he was there. Behind him were Cooper and Colin. Walking slowly, like two wolves approached their prey.

"Come," said Colin. "I'll take for a ride. Duke can come if he wants,"

The Running Creek area was huge! With a Jeep, they hovered around the area. First, they went to the south and showed them where they took their cattle to graze, miles and miles of green grass and hundreds of cows in different shapes and colours. The cowboys were on the back of their horses, shouting words, which were carried by the wind until far. The small river that ran through the valley was like a snake, crawled over the land. Then they crossed over a meadow to the west, where some little hills laid, as if they had guarded their area from any intruders. The bottom part of the hills was covered by small pine forest, which formed a line to the East. They took a small path to the East. The Jeep shook heavily as the road was getting rougher. Duke snarled and bared his teeth. He was afraid. James stroked his neck to calm him down. Duke whimpered a little and then put his head on James' lap. His eyes blinked like a little puppy.

The Pine forest looked scary, now that James could see it. The trees were small, but high reaching up to the sky. They stood close to each other, shielded the bushes and grasses from the sunlight. As far as James could see, he saw light breaking through the leaves and creating pillars, standing slanted among the trees. The morning breeze, which touched the leaves and shook the bushes softly, broke the pillars of light occasionally, but not strong enough to make them go away.

"There was a heavy fight last night," said Colin. "Some intruders had broken the barricade of our ranch."

"Really?" asked James. The three men must have been a part of them. Although he wondered, how that man with a growling voice knew about Duke?

"Yes, we are standing not so far from the place,"

James looked around. So, this was the place and inside the forest, Victoria and he had been inside a foxhole and had some good time, before those men appeared. Hmh...would he be able to find that foxhole again...now...?

"Some men found Duke not so far from this place early this morning." Colin continued. "I thought I had asked you to keep him on the ground,"

"You did," James felt weird in his stomach. Colin looked angry. His jaw was moving.

"He listens only to you, James. He had been here, you must have been here, too. Am I wrong?"

"Yes, you are,"

It was not James who answered, but Prescott. The faery looked at James. His eyes did not blink, but James knew what to do. _Duke, obey Prescott._

Colin and Cooper looked at the faery.

The faery reached out his hand. James ordered Duke to come to faery and licked his hand, which was done by the faithful Doberman.

"So you were here,"

"Yes. I heard noises and I followed. I am a guardian of a forest; forgive me, Werewolf, but the wind brought evil scents to my nose. I must defend the forest from those who create destruction."

"He's telling the truth, Colin," said Cooper. "He wasn't in his room last night,"

Colin looked at Cooper. His lips form a straight line. "We found traces of blood over there," he pointed at five o'clock direction. "Tell me, Faery, what did you see or hear?"

"I saw two werewolves and a human," said Prescott. "They talked about a person named Keane. They said Keane wanted to see the boy,"

Colin and Cooper looked at each other.

"The White Fangs leader," said Colin. His voice was low; his eyes turned yellowish. "What else did you hear?"

"Your cousin's death,"

Colin snarled. His canine teeth were bared to see. For a moment, just for a moment, James saw a face of an angry wolf instead of Colin. Cooper moved a step backward and bowed his head, Duke ran behind James and whimpered.

"You saw the killer?" Colin's eyes were now yellow; the black iris looked very small, made them look somehow sinister. James felt his skin crawl.

"I did," said Prescott. "But I did not chase him. I have a duty here, which is to protect Sookie's son,"

Cooper raised his head. Clearly, he was surprised to hear that.

"Will you be able to recognize him if you see him again?" asked Colin.

"Yes, I will. If he stays as human,"

"What do you mean?"

"He was attacked by the werewolves,"

Colin's eyes slowly returned to their normal colour. "I don't think that I understand you, Prescott,"

"I saw him being attacked by the werewolves. They dragged him to the forest. The rest, I did not know. I left to return to James' room. I wanted to make sure that those mad werewolves would not touch him,"

Colin and Cooper looked at each other.

"They work together, obviously," said Cooper. "Why did they suddenly attack the human?"

"You tell me, The Keeper of Niish' secrets. Your kind has too many riddles that are not easy for me to solve, since I am not yet graced to walk among the Elders,"

James forced himself not to move, or to blink. They may not know that he had been the one who ordered them to attack the human.

"Do you know the werewolves?" asked Colin.

"No," the faery said. "One of them was wearing his cloak the whole time. His voice growled, his face was covered by fur and his eyes were yellowish; the other one stood with his back facing me me. I could only hear his voice. But voices are very hard to be remembered,"

"We have to return," said Cooper. He looked nervous. "We have to tell them that we can't make it tonight,"

"No," said Colin. "Let's continue with the planning. Let's pretend that we didn't know anything about this. Use this situation for our advantages,"

Cooper looked at James. "What about Little Brother?"

Colin looked at James and smiled. "He's our brother. He knows what to do, don't you James?"

Why did everybody think that he knew what to do? James sighed.

Slowly they went back to the Jeep. The sun was at the middle of the sky. The day came as fast as it went. James looked up at the sky. As if the sun wanted to mock him, it gave him its brightest light and blinded his eyes. For the first day in his life, James felt so lonely. His mother was not there to look at him straight into the eyes and told him the truth or to take him into her arms and say nothing. She did not have to say anything, her presence was always able to give him the strength that he desperately needed to cease his fear. He was not sure of becoming an adult sooner any more because he realized that he needed Mom now more than before.

* * *

Sam Merlotte sat on the chair at the corner of a small room. The smell of half-burning incense sticks filled the room, made the air heavy of roses, chocolate, ginger, vanilla and god knows what else. As a shifter, he had the same ability of his main form's ability of senses. The Collie, which was his main form, had a very good sense of smelling; therefore, he also had it. But with this thousand and one scents, the fine sense of smelling now gave him nothing but a headache. How could somebody live in such a poisonous air like this?

He looked at the woman, who was lying on the bed, sleeping. The candle's soft light made a shade of snake on her smooth black skin. Amelia Broadway was her name. He had waited for her to leave the Leclreq Wellness center, bumped on her, and spilled his coffee on her soft blue uniform intentionally. After half an hour of having empty conversation, he offered her a ride home.

"You did it on purpose, didn't you?" she asked when they arrived at her place. "Spilling your coffee on me,"

"Well," he touched his hat and smiled. "I guess I was busted. I've been watching you for some days, and didn't have the guts to approach you," It was a lie, but women liked to hear such nonsense like that. If the men were shy or acting shy, their guards were mostly down. It worked every time and Sam was sure, it would work this time too.

Amelia laughed. "You're such a liar," she said. She opened her door. "If you're so curious about me, why don't you come in and find out,"

Her place had only two rooms; a room, which Amelia used as the sleeping room and also living room and the other room was the kitchen. She turned on her CD player and played a dancing song. "Duran Duran," she said.

"I beg your pardon?"

"The group, it's Duran Duran. I love Duran Duran, they made such beautiful dancing music," she started dancing, moving her body, inviting him to dance with her.

Sam took off his hat and they danced, but they dance only half the song. The movement of their bodies against each other; the scents that filled the room; her eyes, which were burning like fire and his own needs all together made them move fast. They helped each other take off their clothes, threw them somewhere, and Sam cursed himself for wearing boots. He should have worn sneakers, which were easier to be taken off.

Soon they ignored the music, the scent and anything else on the background. They could only see and feel how their body moved in the fast tact of lust. Sam had been with women in shape and colours; but this woman, whose hands were carefully following the shape of his body, seemed to know what he wanted and every touch that she was giving him drove him faster and faster. And the movement of her body was like the movement of a dancer, either soft, fast or strong, yet it was beautiful. As she rolled him down and she sat on him, started moving her body at the same rhythm with the music, he could not think any more. His breaths were getting shorter and heavy, his head spun and his heart was racing. Finally, as the rush of lust broke down his entire being, he grabbed her hips and screamed.

Amelia let herself fall on him and stayed there.

"Jesus!" he said to himself. That was a good fuck!

"No, it's just Amelia," she grinned. "Jesus lives some blocks away from here,"

Sam rolled her down and laughed.

Then, they made love again and again, until they couldn't do it any more.

The reflection of light from the condom package drew Sam's thoughts back to the present time. He checked his watch. It was almost ten o'clock now. Sookie must have woken up already. Alcide said that she would sleep at the haven last night. However, he could not call them. He did not have anything to tell. Yeah, he had slept with Amelia; Alcide would be _thrilled _to hear that.

"Oh, shit!" a loud shriek made Sam turn around. "I am late again!" Amelia got up without bothering to cover her Roman statue like body. "What time is it?"

"Around ten,"

"Shit, shit, shit!" she opened her drawers, put on her underwear, much to Sam's dismay. "They would kill me!"

"I'll take you there," Sam got up. "It's my mistake; I should have woken you up,"

Amelia put on her uniform. She laughed. "You can make that same mistake again tonight, I don't mind,"

Sam walked toward her and kissed her. "We're good, eh?"

Amelia touched his face. "You bet we are, Sam Merlotte!" When Sam wanted to kiss her again, she said. "Bad idea, Baby. I have to be at my work an hour ago. Don't start with that Bon Temps charm of yours, you will only get me into more problems,"

Sam stepped back. How did she know that he was from Bon Temps? He did not say anything about it.

"I did it again, didn't I?" she said. "I can tell people's origin by hearing their accents. You have that typical Bon Temps accent...your 'n' sounds like ng..."

Did it? He spoke Cajun; he supposed it was only normal if his Cajun accent influenced his English. He never paid attention to things like that.

"Will you take me to work or not?"

Sam took her into his arms and messed her hair. "Yes, boss,"

Amelia laughed and kissed his cheek. She fixed her face as they drove away from her place. "Oh, I hate this," she said. "Good that you are here, otherwise I have to do it myself. Driving and putting make up,"

"That's stupid and dangerous," said Sam. "Many accidents occur because of that,"

"I know,"

"If you know, why do you do it? It's stupider, if you ask me,"

She made her hair into a bun. "I know! Women are multitaskers, you know. We do many things at the same time, so we are a little bit carried away and thought that we could do it on the road too,"

"That is a very silly excuse,"

She sighed. "You're right. I'll try not to do it again, next time. If you are willing to be my driver," she flashed her grin. "You're a good man, Sam. I like you,"

"How do you know? You don't even know me," said Sam, but he smiled. "Yeah, I guess I am,"

Amelia smiled. "You should smile more often, it looks good on you,"

Sam lifted his eyebrows. This woman was very generous with praises, strangely, he did not feel as if she was kissing his ass. She seemed sincere with her praises. "You think we can see each other tonight?"

"Yeah, I'd like that...oh, shit. I can't. I have to work a little bit longer tonight. We have a new patient,"

"Pity," said Sam. He had to know the name of the patient, but Amelia may not get suspicious "May be after your work is over? I'd love to,"

"I don't know how long it will take, but if you're willing to wait, we can do it..."

No, he couldn't wait for her neither inside nor around the building. The vampires would be able to sense his presence. "Maybe I'll drop by around ten at your place, if it's okay with you. You won't work that long, will you?"

"I don't know," she said. "It's a very special patient," suddenly her voice was low. "You know what kind of place it is, this LWC. It's a vampire hospital," she whispered.

"Amelia, it's a daytime now. They will not hear us. I think they are sleeping now, and yes I know what LWC is. It's a common knowledge, now."

Amelia looked around, as if she was afraid that somebody might hear or see her. "I heard, a very important vampire is coming tonight. They don't register the name, but they always call her 'Her Majesty', it sounds like a....."

The car stopped immediately and made a loud noise as Sam accidentally stepped on the break. The other cars, which were behind them stopped. The drivers cursed and shouted at Sam as they were passing by his car.

"Sam, are you all right? Jesus, you almost give me a heart attack,"

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I was shocked," And it was the truth. 'Her Majesty'. There was only one 'Her Majesty' in Louisiana. The Vampire Queen of Louisiana herself, Queen Sophie-Anne Leclreq. Sookie and Alcide had to know this as soon as possible.

Sam started his car and slowly drove the car.

"You are shaking," said Amelia. "Oh, I should have told you that. Not everybody agrees with the whole vampire thingy. You're not one of them, are you?"

"No, no," said Sam. 'The whole vampire thingy', oh, he would love to see Northman's face when he heard that. "It's just...I thought that vampires can't get sick," Or had children...that lucky bastard! That not only he had stolen his woman, but he had also managed to tie her by making her pregnant. Well, Sookie had never been his woman; he wanted her to be, but Northman had ruined everything for him.

"That's what I thought too. I just hope she won't be a threat for us, you know, the nurses. We have to take care of her. You never know when or if they will be hungry...it's scary, if I am honest,"

Sam took her hand and squeezed it softly. "Don't worry. They are not going to do something stupid, especially if your patient is an important figure in vampires' world,"

"I hope you're right, Sam," she put her make-up in her bag. "I am glad that you decided to spill your coffee on me last night. Otherwise, I wouldn't have a chance to unload this burden off my chest,"

Sam smiled. "I am glad that I did,"

* * *

The steam from the hot coffee looked like a straight white snake, stood quietly on the table. The house was cold in the morning, much colder than Sookie could remember.

Alcide sat at the table, looked through the window with an empty gaze. The lines on his face were getting clearer and stronger. The thing that happened last night seemed to age him rapidly. "You'll be alone here," he said. His voice was deep and low. "I don't like it,"

Alcide was supposed to leave to Jackson as soon as possible to contact the Norris – the weretiger family that he had mentioned last night. But it seemed he was reluctant to do so.

"I'll be all right, Alcide. Eric and Pam are here,"

"They can't do anything during the daytime,"

Alcide was right. The vampires were 'dead' during the day. She remembered how Eric had tried to keep himself awake at the Palace, but he failed. He was dosing most of the time.

"If the vampires from last night sent somebody to attack you..."

"I don't think that they would do..."

"...or to force you to go to the Palace without any protection from any of us, you can't stop them. Please, go to the haven, there you would be more protected,"

"Eric wants me to be here,"

Alcide combed his hair with his fingers. He sighed. "I'll send somebody to come over here,"

Sookie remembered what Pam had said to her. This place was their last sanctuary. This house had to remain hidden. "No, I don't think that Pam would agree," she looked at Alcide. "I'll be okay, Alcide. Really."

"Sam....yes, Sam. At least let me send him here to accompany you. You know you can trust him,"

"I'll call him, when I need him," Sookie had made up her mind. "Really, Alcide, you worry too much," she gave him a soft look. "I know you used to take care of a lot of people, but I used to take care myself. So, please. Go to Jackson and meet this Norris family. It will only take some few hours, and I'll be here when you arrive,"

"Promise me not to go to Baton Rouge before you hear anything from me!"

"I can't promise you that, but I'll try. If not, then I'll call you,"

After drinking the coffee and eating some bread, Alcide said goodbye. He wanted to go to Jackson as early as possible so that he could return before the dark. He was bowing and going to kiss her, when Sookie pulled herself away.

"I see," he said.

"I am sorry," said Sookie.

Alcide smiled; he looked bitter, but he still forced himself to smile. "I understand," he said. "Take care, Sookie," then he left.

Sookie followed him until the porch and watched his tall figure walking down the hill. She felt quite strange that she started to miss him. Alcide was a friend, whom she could rely on, a strong shoulder to lean on. Any woman would have felt lucky or blessed to be his girlfriend or wife, any woman, but her. She did not love him as a boyfriend, even after their kiss last night, or should she say _especially _after the kiss. She could not describe with words, but the feelings that she normally had when she was with Eric was not there. The feelings of wanting, lusting and at the same time being wanted, being lusted....ah damn Eric Northman! Why must she compare any man with that man, who was not willing to admit his feelings for her? Did she really need to hear the word "I love you," or whatever it would be in his Old Norse? Were all those things that he had done for her was not enough to show her that he loved her?

Her mobile phone rang. She opened it. "Hallo?"

"Hi, Sookie..."An unknown female voice was on the other line.

"Who is this?"

She laughed, mockingly. "Debbie Pelt, Alcide's ex fiancée,"

"How did you know my number?"

"Really, Sookie. Do you think Alcide will keep anything secret from me?"

Sookie did not answer. Yeah, she believed that Alcide kept many secrets from her. "What do you want?"

"I want to talk to Alcide. Is he around? I know that you slept with him,"

Her voice sounded sharp and short. Debbie was jealous...after all this time, she was still jealous with her. And no, she did not sleep with Alcide, but she did not want to tell that woman anything. "No," she said. "He's not around. Why didn't you try his house?"

"I did. They said that he left with you and your vampire bitch,"

The people at the haven should have been able to keep their mouths shut. "No, he is not around. He left," Sookie said and she really did not want to tell her when.

"Tell him I called," Clack. The phone was cut off.

Jesus, that woman! Sookie wondered how Alcide had ended up with her at the first place! She closed her mobile phone.

The phone rang again.

"Listen, I don't know where he is..."

"Hey, hey...good morning to you, too," a friendly voice from the other line cut her.

"Sam," Sookie sighed. "I am sorry. Debbie just called and asked for Alcide..."

"What? From where did she get your telephone number?"

"She said from Alcide,"

"No, that's a lie. Alcide would never give her your phone number. Listen, where are you?"

"At Pam's,"

"Where is that?"

"Really, Sam...I can't tell you..."

"Listen, leave the place. I don't trust that woman," said Sam. "She must have checked you out. What did you say?"

"I said that...." suddenly Sookie felt stupid. She had said that Alcide was not there.

"Leave the place Sookie and meet me somewhere. Call me when you got there. I have news you surely want to hear. Leave now." Clack. Sam closed the line.

Sookie ran inside, grabbed her bag and went out. Sam had never been wrong before, he was certainly also right this time. She closed the door and ran down hill.


	37. The Wrong Company

Thirty-six

**The Wrong Company  
**

Sookie wiped off the sweat that was falling down her head. The distance between the road and Pam's place was farther than what she had thought. It had been shorter last night, or was it because she had been in a car?

She held her stomach. Somehow she was thankful to Eric that he had given her his blood last night; otherwise, she was not sure if she could run like that after being sucked almost dry by Bill. She knew she had to sleep a lot and eat a lot after a blood donation, but there was no time now. And had she not drunken Eric's blood, she would have died by now.

She should have listened to Alcide. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Alcide knew the situation in the daytime better than Eric did. Okay, Alcide loved her and possibly wanted to be with her most of the time, but Alcide was also a good werewolf pack leader. He would not take advantage of the situation for his own private benefits. He would analyse the situations, and then take the steps. With his experiences, instinct and knowledge, most of his decisions were not wrong.

A green pick-up came from the left. Sam. He opened the door. Sookie jumped in and without saying a word, Sam left the spot.

"Thanks, Sam,"

Sam nodded.

A strong smell of mixed scents caught Sookie's nose. Where had Sam been? Had he rolled himself on incense sticks or what? Ginger, rose...chocolate?

"Stop that," said Sam.

"What?"

"Sniffing me. You are not a dog, you won't find anything,"

"Really? Want to bet?"

"You drank his blood again." He sighed.

Sookie told him what happened last night. Sam's face looked hard and thoughtful as her story was over.

"How is Compton?"

"I don't know. Pam and Eric took him to Chow's coffin so he could continue sleeping,"

"Don't drink his blood too much, Sookie. He's a vampire, and an old one. His blood works faster than the younger one,"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think there are no consequences from swapping blood like that? You remember what happened to Wilson? He drank his father's blood for hundreds of years and the result, we all know,"

Sookie did not argue. Yeah, she remembered that. Wilson had lived longer than any human and stayed young, but he had been also not able to stand the sunlight. Would she change into some kind of vampire when she continued doing it? "Where are going?"

"I don't know, I don't figure it out yet. I just want to take you away from that place as soon as possible,"

"From where do you think Debbie got my number?"

"I have no idea. That bitch," said Sam. "If I could get my hand on her tail..."

"I thought she had changed, at least that was the impression that I got from Alcide's story,"

"Alcide is too kind. Debbie can manipulate him at any time she wants,"

Sookie made herself comfortable. Where should she go? She had no gun in her bag, no silver, nothing. Perhaps she should return home and took the gun that she left there. "Let's go home," she said. "I want to take my gun,"

"Okay," Sam changed the car direction to Bon Temps.

"Who was the lucky lady?" asked Sookie. Sam had been with a woman, she was sure. Those kinds of incense sticks...only women used them.

Sam smiled. The soft lines under his eyes made his face softer. "She is a nurse, who works at the Leclreq Wellness Center. And she gave me a very good information. The Queen will come there tonight. As a patient,"

Her condition was apparently getting worse.

"You don't seem to be surprised,"

"I know that the Queen is sick," said Sookie. "I just didn't think that it would be so fast,"

"Because of the new True Blood?"

"Possibly. We still wait for the result from Japan." Sookie hit Sam's shoulder. "Good for you, Buddy! You seem happy..."

Sam lifted his eyebrows. "I can't wait for you forever, can I?"

Sookie laughed. "That's not what I heard. Alcide said that you are a very dedicated man, you will do anything to get your job done,"

"Alcide's howling is louder and longer when the moon is young," said Sam, smiling.

"I am glad that you are here, Sam. I can always count on you,"

"Hey, that's what friends are for!"

Sookie smiled. Yeah, that's what friends are for. "What is her name?"

"Amelia Broadway," Sam said. "But don't ask me where she comes from. We don't get to that subject yet,"

Sookie laughed. She bet, they had not even talked much. Somehow, it was good to see Sam in such a good mood. That woman, Amelia, must have been good, very good. "You will see her again?"

"Yes, tonight. I think I want to make a further observation...na, na...don't misunderstand me...I want to be with her, to make sure that she's safe. If they found out that she was the one who leaked the information, I am sure, they would look for her,"

"I understand,"

"Do you think those German giants will accompany her?"

"I am afraid they will. They are not only her bodyguards, but they also her children. I hope Pam or Eric will be able to talk to them. If they are willing to work together with us, it will be easier to get to the Queen,"

Suddenly her mobile phone rang. Sookie looked at the identity of the caller. James. "Hi, Sweetie!"

"Mom..." his voice sounded as if he was crying.

"Are you okay, James?"

"No, not so really," said James. "I am afraid, Mom,"

"Honey..."

"Everybody thinks that I will make the right decision for me, but I don't know what to do...I can't ask anybody...even Godric said that I should follow my heart...what does it mean? I don't know what to do, Mom..."

Godric had visited James; that was good. He must have told James about the choices that James had to make.

"What if I make the wrong decision?"

"We all made wrong decisions, James, once or twice. We simply have to make the best out of it. You remember, when you were little, and you were confused because you wanted to eat the chocolate ice cream and the strawberry ice cream, but you didn't have enough money to buy them both?"

"Yeah, but it is not about ice cream, Mom!" his voice was getting impatient.

"I know, Darling," Sookie tried to be calm. She was as nervous as James was, and it must have been very clear because Sam held her other hand, tried to tell her that he was there.

"Mom...?"

"You remember what you did back then?" tears ran down on Sookie's cheek. She realized she had just given her only son a permission to choose a kind of life she might not agree.

"I chose the ice cream I've never tasted be..." his voice was trailing. "Because you said, if I ate the same ice cream...I might not know what the other ice cream tasted like..."

Sookie let Sam's hand go and wiped off her tears. "And if you did not like it...at least you knew...and the next time you would know what to do..."

"But there won't be next time, this time...Mom..."

"I know, Sweetie..."

"Are you sure, Mom?"

"No. Are you?"

"No. I am afraid, Mom..."

"It's a good sign, James. Fear makes us careful,"

"You won't be angry, if I choose whatever I want to choose?"

"James, you are my son, how can I be angry at a decision that you made because you are comfortable or happy to live with it?"

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, Sweetie,"

"Tell Papa, I love him,"

"I'll do,"

"What was that all about?" asked Sam as she closed the line.

"I might haven't told you," Sookie rubbed her nose, which suddenly itchy and painful. "When Eric was poisoned, and I took him to the woods...he was cured by the Faery King."

"You told me that,"

"Yeah...perhaps..." tears ran down on her cheek again. "The Faery King had replaced Eric's blood with wolf blood..."

"Was it even possible?"

"I have no idea, but that was what my great grandfather told me. When I was pregnant, the wolf-blood, which was carried by Eric's semen, is now carried by James..."

"Dear Lord..."

"Godric told me that now James has to decide whether to live as one of the werewolves or as a human. I just don't understand why now..."

"He is fourteen, Sookie. A werewolf is considered an adult, as he is fifteen. James is a young adult in the eyes of werewolves. He has to choose between live in the pack or tries his luck somewhere else and in his case, he has to choose to live as one or tries his luck as another,"

It all made sense now. However, sense did not make her heart lighter.

"Listen, Jack and Jason are there. I am not sure about Jason, but I believe Jack can give him some advices,"

"Prescott is there too,"

"The faery? I thought faeries don't want to interfere with other's problems,"

"He is in love with Cooper,"

Sam smirked. "Trust me, Sookie. If there is something that a faery can do is to control his emotion. Prescott is there for something else. Cooper is just a bonus for him,"

Sookie hoped that Sam was right. If Prescott worked for Niall, then he was there to protect James.

"I didn't understand Al's fascination with James either. I always thought it was because of you, but then I realized there was something to do with James himself,"

"Was that the reason you left your smell on his clothes?"

"What? I never do that. I am a shifter, Sookie, not a werewolf. I can't mark anybody, except when I was running around as Dean. But then, I have to pee on it,"

"But there were two different smells on James' clothes!"

"Sometimes, when young werewolves are entering their phase of being adults, they are not able to control themselves and not to send out signals, marks or other things to give some kind of notification to other werewolves about their presence,"

"Are you saying that it was James'?"

Sam did not answer straight away. His eyes were focusing on the road. After a while, he said, "If he has wolf-blood, like what you say, then it was probably his,"

Then they became quiet. Entering the Bon Temps wood, Sam said, "Maybe you should stay at the Mansion," he said. "I'll accompany you. Nobody expects you to stay there; nobody will look for you there, or you can stay at Northman's vault,"

"There is no air circulation there,"

"Maybe you should think about building one," he said. "I am not suggesting that you should sleep with him there, but who knows, the situation might get out of control and you will have a secure place, where only you know how to get in. You don't give the combination to anybody else, do you?"

Sookie shook her head.

"Keep it that way," said Sam. "If you want to give the combination to James, wait until he's ready to have it,"

"Thanks, Sam,"

The car entered the Northman ground. The ground was empty and looked neglected, not as bad as two months ago when Sookie had first arrived; nevertheless, it was strange to see the house which was normally full of people suddenly quiet.

The day crept slowly. Sam took the chance to take a nap. He said, he did not get enough sleep last night. No wonder, Sookie said. Sam laughed and said that Sookie should meet Amelia. She would like her. Sookie wonder if Sam was serious with her. It was a little bit too early, wasn't it? Sam did not say anything, except his eyes were twinkling. Sam Merlotte was in love with a woman whom he had just known yesterday. Sookie did not want to say anything about it, but she thought it was not a good idea at all.

* * *

A blond figure was gleaming under the soft light. Eric Northman, wore only a boxer and a pink bathrobe, entered his house. His blue eyes flickered dangerously.

Sookie put her bread on the plate. Sam looked at him in disbelief. "Is that..."

"Don't say a word, Shifter," he said.

"You are wearing furry sandals," said Sam. "Did you just raid Lafayette's closet or did I miss something here?"

Eric turned around and faced Sam. If his face had colour, it would have been red by now. "Why are you here?"

"She wants me to," said Sam.

Sookie shot a sharp look at Sam, but the shifter grinned like a donkey. He loved to tease Eric and he did it at any chance he got.

Eric looked at Sookie. "I thought we agreed that you would stay put,"

Sookie took Eric's hand. "Something came up," she said. "Alcide's ex-fiancée called me and asked Alcide's whereabouts,"

"Alcide will not give away your number to somebody else without your permission,"

"That's what Sam thought also. So he asked me to leave the place,"

"Good decision, Shifter,"

"Thank you," said Sam. "Well," he got up. "I have to go now. I think Northman can protect you, Sookie. Or does he need any help?"

Eric turned around to face Sam, but Sookie kept him facing her. "Go!" said Sookie. "Now?"

Sam grinned and left.

Eric sat down beside Sookie. "I'll snatch his neck one of these days,"

"Come on, you are not telling me that he can make you angry,"

"He is nerving, like a buzzing fly,"

Sookie smiled. "To be honest, you look funny. Are those Pam's?"

"I was in a hurry; I took whatever I could find,"

"How is Bill?"

"Better. He had some appetite when he woke up. It's a good sign,"

"Is his maker there already?"

"No. We won't meet her there," he said. "Pam will bring Bill over here. Tell me, what did the shifter say about his investigation at the Leclreq?"

Sookie gave him the heads-up. "The Queen is getting worse, she's at the Leclreq now" she said. "You have to contact Sigebert and Wybert. They have to listen to you,"

"I can try," he said.

"It seems that we don't need Grace Stone after all,"

"I prefer to keep that planning. Who knows we will need it," he touched her face. "You look worried. Is something bothering...James. You are worried about James,"

"He called. He said he's afraid. Oh, I don't know Eric. Are we making the right decision by letting him go?"

"Yes," he said without hesitation. Sookie wished, she could have that kind of confidence. Eric touched her hair. "That boy can read vampires' mind for his whole life. I can imagine that it scares him, but he can deal with it. He will be able to deal with these werewolves' matters, trust me. Besides, his woman is there. She will help him. What do you think that could help me go through my darkest years inside that chained coffin? You. Yes, Lover, you. The thought and the desire to see you again. You might not like Luna, but she will be a big help for our son,"

His woman...Eric just called Luna 'his woman', as if he was certain that they had slept together. "You don't think that..."

"No, James doesn't have her yet," Eric smirked. "But soon, he will," he walked away. "I want to have a shower. Care to join me?"

"It's not a shower for two,"

"Does it matter?"

Well...Sookie looked at his furry sandals. Those sandals were too big to be Pam's. "They are not Pam's, are they?"

"No. They are mine. I like them. They feel nice on my feet,"

Sookie laughed. "Well, Eric Northman, you never fail to amaze me..."

"That's an honor, Ma'am.." he grabbed her hips before Sookie could say anything and took her into their room.

Soon, they were touching each other, trying to arouse the other under shower. The water was warm and nice, but the shower was a small and narrow place. Sookie screamed once or twice when her head hit the glass door as Eric pushed her too strong and Eric growled when his own head hit the tap. At the end, Eric and Sookie had to admit, it was not a comfortable place for both of them. Eric had asked her more than twice to accompany him taking a shower. She had seen some erotic scenes in some romantic movies and she thought, why not? However, the shower was slippery, narrow and dangerous, not to mention that she had to swallow some water every time she opened her mouth. The writers of those romantic movies or novels, who had the imagination that it was good to have sex under the shower, must have never had it there or they owned a very huge shower or a shower for two. Because what happened to her was everything, but romantic. Dripping wet, they went out of the shower and continued what they had been doing on the bed.

"I should have been thinking about the way to get inside the Leclreq's building or to help James and not had sex with you," said Sookie as they were lying beside each other.

"I can do both," said Eric. His finger was trailing on her arm. "If you can't, I can show you how,"

Eric Northman had a sex-lust like a teenager. He could never get enough. Sookie could feel his desire in his touch, his voice and in his eyes. Sookie wondered if she would be able to keep up with him when she was older.

Eric got up. "Stop thinking that nonsense," he got down from the bed. Naked, he walked to the closet.

"Can you hear what I think?" Sookie was surprised.

"No, but I saw that look before. So stop it,"

Aude...Aude must have thought the same thing. "I am only a human, Eric. Sooner or later, I would get older"

"Yes, but not now or soon. You're only forty-one. Your life has just begun. So stop it and don't start thinking about finding me a woman. I'll suck her dry if you do that,"

That was a threat and somehow; Sookie believed, Eric would do it. "Why should I?" Sookie got down. She stood beside him and took a set of cloth. "You can find yourself one, if you want,"

Eric smirked.

"What?" Sookie put her clothes on.

"Nothing," he said.

"I meant it,"

"No, you didn't. You were jealous like a mad woman when you thought I slept with another woman. So don't bullshit me by acting as if I had no meaning for you,"

Sookie touched his chest. Yes, he had a lot of meaning for her. Softly, she kissed his nipple, and then she looked up at him and smiled.

Eric bowed to kiss her. "That's better," he said.

* * *

Pam, Bill and Chow came around nine. Bill was pale, paler than the others, but he was not grey any more. "Thank you, Sukeh. You saved my life,"

"You would do the same, Bill." said Sookie. "You saved Eric,"

Bill took her hand. His hand was colder than Eric's...or was it only her feeling? "I am sorry if I hurt you last night, I..."

"Forget it. You are sick and no harm was done,"

Bill nodded. "Thank you,"

"Who is your maker, actually?"

"Long story," said Bill. "I would not call her if unless I desperately needed her,"

"And you do," said Eric. "You know what I think about her, but I don't see no other choice, Bill,"

Bill smiled faintly. Sookie could see that he forced himself to.

Chow's big figure walked across the garden. He could move faster, but he did not want to. He liked walking, Pam said once, with a very annoying tune.

"She is here," said Bill. "I can feel her,"

Chow entered the kitchen and said to Eric that a woman was standing in front of the door asking for him.

Eric asked Sookie to come with him. "You have to invite her in," he said. "Your word is stronger than mine,"

Lorena de Soto had a smaller figure than Sookie was. She was as high as her nose, blond hair, brown eyes and a body like a ballerina. Small, but firm. When Lorena's hand squeezed hers, Sookie had to cringe because it was very strong.

"Lorena," Eric nodded.

Lorena smiled. "Eric," her eyes looked at him from the head down to the toe. "You look good, Sheriff," click. Her fangs were out. "You could consider yourself lucky, Sookie. He is not my type,"

_Bitch. _Sookie thought.

Lorena entered the house with a movement of a dancer. Her hands were flying beside her body, and the red thin gown that she wore showed clearly the shape of her body. A golden bangles with red stones on it glittered, reflected the soft amber light. "William..." she walked more slowly as she saw Bill. "My dear William..."

Bill wanted to stand to greet her, but Lorena stopped him. "Lorena,"

She put her hand around Bill's arm, up to his neck and touched his hair. "Come, we have a lot of things to do,"

Like a little boy, Bill stood and obeyed Lorena's order without any question.

"Where are you going?" asked Sookie.

Lorena bared her fangs to Sookie. "Why do you care?" Her voice was clear that she mocked her.

"Answer the question, Lorena." said Eric.

"We all have secret places, Eric. You want me to cure your friend here, let me do it my way; and the next time you want my help, watch your tone. I might not be available," She raised her hand and walked out of the door.

"Don't worry, Sukeh. I will be fine," said Bill. "If anything happens to me, I have something for you in my room at the palace. A little friendship gift. Good day, Ma'am. Eric," he nodded, and then left.

"Eric...I don't have a good feeling about it," said Sookie. Eric did not answer. She turned around to see him and found him standing some steps away from her. His hands were inside the pockets of his trousers and he bowed a little. He looked thoughtful.

"He is with her maker," said Eric. "I can't do anything about it. The relationship between a maker and his child is a privilege, nobody is allowed to interfere or they broke the main rule in our world. Lorena is a difficult woman, but she loves Bill. She won't harm him,"

"She loves him?" Sookie tried to catch their figure in the darkness, but they were not there any more. Like any other vampires, they moved fast, faster than normal human eyes could see.

"They were lovers for a hundred years or more," said Pam. "They broke up for some years, met again, became lovers again and I believed Bill had left her around twenty years ago,"

"He is very faithful,"

"Or stupid," Pam continued. "I would leave her earlier if I were Bill,"

"What do you know about love, Child?" Eric smirked.

"Everything that you taught me and some more," Pam looked at him straight into his eyes. Sookie felt uncomfortable to see how her eyes suddenly bright and warm. She still loved him.

"Lucky me," said Eric, but he did not sound convincing. He walked to Sookie and said, "Prepare yourself for tonight, Pam. We will go to see the Queen. Kill anybody who is on our way,"

Pam smiled. "What keeps you so long to give me such an excitement?"

Suddenly Sookie felt, she was in some kind of madhouse. Their eyes – Pam's and Eric's, flickered and full of lust; and Chow, who stood beside the door grinned like a donkey. This was absolutely the wrong company that she had been keeping.

* * *

Five vampires, a human, two doctors, five security guys with their guns pointed at the direction of three vampires, and some nurses in soft blue uniform were facing each other. The nurses were more like they were caught in the middle of fire and not knowing what to do.

"You are not allowed to come here, Eric," said Sigebert.

"Mein Lieber Sigebert," Eric's head moved like a snake. "I am the Sheriff of Area 5, you must aware that I am bonded to my duty to keep this area safe. Her Majesty is here, I need to see her,"

Sigebert and Weybert looked at each other.

"Nein," said Weybert. "She doesn't want to see you,"

Eric said something in German. Sookie had no idea what Eric was talking about, but the way his eyes looked at her, she had a feeling that he was talking about her.

After some moment, the twin vampires asked every guard and nurse to leave. Sookie heard thoughts of relief in their heads. She was relief too. There would be no fighting between the five of them, at least not for the moment!

Sigebert gave them a sign to follow him.

"What did you say to him?"

"He'd better take us to the Queen now, otherwise the King would see you first; and Her Majesty would not be so amused if the King likes you and decides to take you as his subject,"

"Did you really say that? Did you really mean it? You wanted to take me to the King?"

Eric did not answer. From the corner of her eyes, Sookie could see Pam giving her a sign not to continue asking him questions.

The room for the Queen was under the ground. The door was made of steel and locked from the outside. It made heavy and loud noises when the twin vampires opened the door.

The room smelt of roses. It was not a wonder since almost at every corner of the room there were roses in red, yellow, white, big and small...and chocolate. The chocolate smell was not strong, but it's strong enough for Sookie to catch it and it smelt like the one which was on Sam. Amelia was here. The bed was a king size bed covered in dominant ivory colour. And on that bed, a small figure was sitting with her head down. She looked fragile and tired. Her hair was untidy and her pale skin was dull.

Eric told Chow to guard the door.

"Sophie..." Pam ran to her. "My dear Sophie, what has become of you?"

The Queen raised her face. Sookie was shocked to see how pale her face was. It was not the colour of her skin that made her look dead, but the eyes...the fire that had burnt so brightly in those eyes, the fire that had showed spirit and determination...were gone.

Then Sookie heard somebody growled. It was Eric. With a speed, which was faster than any eyes could see, he grabbed the twin vampires and pushed them to the wall. His hands were like claws and now they were on each vampire's neck.

"You have failed her," said Eric. Sookie could not see his face, but she was sure that his fangs were out and his eyes flickered with lust of killing.

"You have to understand us, Eric," said Sigebert. His voice was choked. "She is our maker; we can't refuse her order,"

Eric let them go. Those vampires were like a piece of paper, fell to the ground.

"We couldn't stop her from drinking the True Blood that had been sent especially for her; we also couldn't stop her from staying longer and longer through the day. Her orders were becoming more and more erratic, like to kill André, or to refuse to pay our respect to the King. We have to take her here before the King found out about her real condition. We need your help, Sheriff; but we can't ask for it. She has ordered us to avoid or refuse any assistance from any body,"

"Why are you doing it now?" asked Sookie.

"Because her power is getting weaker," Pam was the one who answered. She sat beside the Queen. In fact, the Queen was in her arms now. "I can't sense her,"

Slowly the twin vampires stood up. "We almost could not get out of the Palace. The human in silver suits are all around now..." said Weybert, and then he looked at his twin brother. "Du sagst es ihm,"

Eric looked at Sigebert. "What?"

"She ordered us to take your woman's son..."

"Are you planning to carry on the order?" asked Eric.

The calmness in his voice scared her. It was like the calmness before the storm. Eric stood straight in front of them, his arms were stretching out and his hands were forming claws. Pam was also standing. She had put the Queen on the bed and now she looked as if she had been ready to kill somebody.

"Her Majesty had declared him as a dangerous human," said Sigebert. He was also in a ready to attack position. "She said that he could hear our thoughts,"

"And you believe her?"

Sigebert and Weybert looked at each other. Sookie felt her hands as cold as ice. She prayed that none of the vampires could sense her fear, which was so strong and real that it seemed to have a life of its own and moved her hands uncontrollably.

"Her Majesty could hear our thoughts, you know that, Eric. And she always told us the truth,"

"If she had always told you the truth, tell me, mein Lieber Weybert, why had she ordered you to kill André, your own brother?"

Both of them looked at each other. They changed looks as if they were changing thoughts, or perhaps that was exactly what they were doing. Sookie really wished she had James' ability to listen to vampires' heads.

"She didn't say," said Sigebert.

"And we didn't ask," said Weybert.

"Are you going to carry on her order?" asked Sookie. "She was not on the right mind! Can't you see it? My son is just a boy. She must have mistaken him with me. I can read mind, but only human mind,"

The twin vampires looked at her.

"Her Majesty is confused for the moment; otherwise she would not order you to kill André Paul, her child. No mother wants to see her children die," said Sookie. With all her power, she tried to stay calm. "I am telling you the truth. I can read human mind. You two must have known it,"

The twin vampires kept looking at her.

The room was quiet. The air conditioner was humming somewhere on the ceiling. They were all still on their alerted positions and Sookie could only pray that those vampires took her words.

"Eerrric..." a soft voice of the Queen broke the silence.

Eric came forward to the Queen. He bowed and then stood on one of his legs. "Your Majesty," he said.

"_Où est_ André?"

"Forgive me, Your Majesty. His majesty needs his assistance in some matters," said Eric, lying with a straight face and voice.

"He always needs something when I need something," Sophie-Anne Leclreq tried to wake up. Pam moved fast and held her to sit.

"Pamela, my dearest lover…" she said.

"Your Majesty is not well. Perhaps she should lie down and have some rest," said Pam.

"Oui, perhaps she does that," the Queen smiled. Her smile looked very sinister on her fragile greenish pale face.

"Why are you here, Eerric?"

Eric got up and walked some steps backward. "I heard that Your Majesty is not well," he said. "I want to make sure that everything is convenient for you,"

"You are such a loyal subject, Eric. Give me your word that you would do whatever it takes to protect Louisiana from Peter..."

"I give you my word, Your Majesty..."

"I am so tired. _Où est_ André?" Then she closed her eyes and mumbled something in French. Softly, Pam laid her down.

Sigebert gave Eric a sign to come to him. He took him out of the room. Weybert and Sookie followed them. Unfortunately, for Sookie, Sigebert spoke in German. She could only stand there, watching them. She did not understand anything. Why did they speak in German? There was nobody there, except Chow and Chow was loyal to Eric. He would not tell anybody about the conversation that they were having!

A chocolate scent reached Sookie's nose. Amelia. She looked around. Nobody was there. She closed her eyes. She had to find her. She did not want that Eric or other vampires sensed her and thought that she had been eavesdropping. Somehow, she had a feeling that Amelia was important for them. Slowly she heard a female voice.

_Don't...don't let her know...I am here...I call ye, Horus and Bastet to cast darkness upon those who mean harm..._

Her sound was getting louder and louder as Sookie moved away from the vampires. And then, she saw her. A slender woman, standing at the end of the stairs. Her hands clutched a necklace with a three stones medallion. Gold, black and green. Her face was pale and in her eyes, Sookie could see fear. That woman was terrified.

Her thought stopped and she turned around. Sookie dared herself to call her name when that woman wanted to go.

"Amelia?"

She stopped. "How do you know my name?"

"I am..." before Sookie could finish her sentence, something, somebody, snatched her and pushed her to the wall.

"Hexe!" Weybert hissed at her. His pale blue eyes were flickering and his fangs were aiming her neck.

_Hexe? What the fuck is hexe?_

"Let her go, Weybert," Pam stood behind her.

"What is going on?" asked Sookie confused. She looked at Weybert and Amelia. To her surprise, Amelia stared at Weybert and her mouth moved fast.

"Stop it," Eric's voice echoed. "You will not be able to fight us all, Witch,"

* * *

"You are a witch?" Sookie gave Amelia a glass of water that she had taken from the Queen's room. They were standing in front of the Queen's room now. Chow was told by Eric to guard the door that led to the basement. Nobody may enter the basement; if they did not listen, Chow knew what to do.

"Thank you," Amelia accepted the glass. Her hand was trembling and she looked shaken, . Sookie could understand that Amelia was trembling now. Those four vampires were looking at her like the hawks eyed their prey. "Does Sam know that you are a witch?"

Amelia shook her head.

"How could you escape from us?" asked Pam. "We should have been able to sense you!"

"This is a huge building," said Amelia. "I went to other part of the building when I saw the guards come," By the 'guards' she meant the twin vampires.

"And why didn't you keep on hiding?" asked Sookie.

"Long story,"

"Make it short," said Eric.

"My mentor is here," said Amelia. "I figure out that the only way to safe myself is by staying here with you,"

"Why are you hiding away from your mentor?"

Amelia did not answer, but her head said. _That bitch wants to kill me._

"We have enough problems already," said Sigebert. "I don't want her to be here. Throw her out,"

"Her mentor wants to kill her," said Sookie. "If we let her go, she would be dead by now,"

"What? How do you know that?"

"Long story," said Sookie.

Amelia opened her mouth, but sharp look from Eric made her change her mind.

"I don't care what other witches will do to her, I want her out of here," said Sigebert.

"We could use her for the daytime protection," said Pam. "You certainly would not let the human in silver suits protect her. If anything happens to Her Majesty in the daytime, we can't do anything,"

The twin vampires looked at each other. Again, it seemed they talked to each other via their mind. Sookie really wished James to be there.

"We agree," said Sigebert. "But I don't want to let her around Her Majesty alone."

"We can solve that problem," said Eric. "I think I know somebody who'll be willing to be here, and if I am not mistaken, he will be volunteering for the job. The Witch reeks of him,"

There was only one person, who could annoy Eric in such an intense level that Sookie could see the feeling on his face. Sam Merlotte.


	38. Northmans' Choices

Thirty-Seven

**Northmans' Choices  
**

"You're a witch," said Sam, for the fourth or fifth times, Sookie didn't count it any more. He paced around the room. "You're a witch..."

Amelia raised her hands. Her eyebrows were lifted, as if she wanted to say, _Hello, I got that._

"YOU SHOULD'VE TOLD ME!"

Everybody, even the vampires, jumped as Sam shouted. Sookie had to grab her chest because she felt that her heart stop beating. She had never heard Sam raise his voice, ever. Now, he barked like a dog, a huge big dog with a very loud voice.

"You never asked," said Amelia. She looked calm. "You never said that you were a shifter, either,"

Sam stopped pacing. "How do you...did somebody tell you?" his eyes were at Eric.

"Hello? I am a witch. I could tell who you are or shall I say, what you are, from the first time we met,"

Sam sat down. He looked beaten.

"Does it matter?"

Obviously it did. Sam shook his head. "I am getting out of here," he said.

"Nobody leaves this place without my permission," said Eric. His tune was official, like a general, who was leading a battle. "Let me make it clear. The Queen is sick. She has to be guarded, twenty-four hours a day. Sigebert, Weybert and Chow will cover the nighttime; and you, Shifter, will guard her in the daytime. I don't care who you will chose as your partner, but you will guard this place. Sookie trusts you, unfortunately, so I will trust her judgement by trusting you. You have problems with the witch, deal with it on your own time. As long as you work for me..."

Sam raised his head. His eyes met Eric's. Sookie could see clearly that he wanted to say something, but as a man with experiences, he knew when he had to step back and admit his lost. Eric was not in the mood for a joke or teasing; it would be his last joke if he dared to tease him.

"You will follow my order," said Eric. "If you think you can't handle this by yourself, I will ask Alcide to lend you a hand. If you don't want to work for me, leave. But if you leave, I don't want to see you near this or my place again,"

Sam's eyes were narrowing. He did not do anything, but stared at Eric for quite a while, before finally he said. "I'll do it. You owe me one, Northman. One day, I might collect your debt,"

"Then I'll pay my debt,"

Sam stood up. "I'll talk to Alcide about this and see what he thinks about it," slowly he walked away. Amelia wanted to come with him, but he said. "Don't..." he said. "Just, stay away from me..."

Sookie's mobile rang. Alcide.

"Where are you?" He sounded angry.

"I am at the Leclreq,"

"What did I tell you? You should have waited for me!"

"Alcide, Debbie had called me. Sam thought it was better for me to get away from there. Besides, I am now with Eric, Sam and the others,"

The other line was suddenly quiet. "Debby? How did she..." then quiet again. "Somebody is betraying us," he said. "Somebody is playing double roles,"

"I think the same thing too," Sookie remembered Tara. She had played also double roles: one as Aude's private secretary, and the other as Wilson's accomplice. But who might that or those person would be?

"We have to talk, Sookie, not on the phone. I don't trust this line. I'll be at the Haven with the Norris,"

He closed the line.

"Alcide is here," Sookie told Eric. "He wants to talk,"

Eric nodded. "We have to go," he said.

"Let Pam stay here," said Sigebert. "I come with you,"

Eric looked at Pam.

"Go," she said.

"You stay here, Chow."

"Yes, Boss,"

"You," Eric pointed at Amelia. "Come with us,"

In a hurry, they left the Leclreq Wellness Center. The nurses, doctors and security people moved away as they walked by, as if they wanted to clear the way for them. On their faces, fear was hanging like black cloud on the sky at the rainy day. Sookie caught their thoughts that mostly blamed them for the chaos and fear among the patients. They also thought that Amelia and she were out of their minds to go with the vampires.

Sam was standing beside his pick-up, smoking. He turned off his cigarette as soon as he saw them. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"The Haven," said Sookie.

Without saying a word, Sam opened his car door. He also did not say anything when Amelia and Sigebert entered his car. Gloomily he followed Eric's red Corvette leaving the parking lot of the Lecreq Wellness Centre.

* * *

The werepanther from Jackson, as Alcide introduced them to Sookie, were Calvin and Crystal Norris. To Sookie's disappointment, Calvin was a small man, smaller than she was, but agile built and his tight t-shirt showed his muscled arms. His hair was cut short and the silver colour pointed out here and there. The only thing that was particular about him was his eyes. They were green, but when the light fell upon them, golden light was shining bright from its iris. His niece, Crystal, was not so much taller than him, dark hair and skinny, too skinny in Sookie's taste.

"I never thought that I would witness a working relationship between vampires and weres in my life time," said Calvin. "The world is getting crazier or it is just my luck,"

"They agree to accompany you during the day time, Sookie," said Alcide. "Meanwhile my man and I focus on the murder,"

_She is something,_ Sookie heard that man thinking. _ She would be a good fresh blood for the clan._

Sookie moved a step back ward. This was not a good idea. She heard Eric sniffing. Eric had sensed her thought. Slowly Eric walked forward, but before he could do anything, his mobile-phone rang. "Yes?" Then he spoke in his Old Norse. Pam was calling him, or perhaps Godric. There were only three persons besides Eric, who could speak that language. Pam, Godric and James. James would not call him and used that language. Otherwise, the members of the Grey Hound would not his real identity, if Colin had not told them yet.

"Actually," said Crystal. "I am not comfortable of being around a human, who lives together with a vampire, but Alcide told us that your brother is a werepanther,"

"He is," said Sookie.

"So you are a werepanther, I presume?"

"No, my brother was bitten,"

"I see," said Crystal. "Where is he, now?"

"In Beaumont,"

"With his family?"

Sookie looked at Crystal and then at Alcide. She was curious whether Alcide had shown them Jason's photo or not. Jason was a handsome man, any woman would find him attractive. "No, with my son," she said. "They are invited by the Grey Hound Clan,"

Alcide moved closer to Sookie. _Play with me, Sook. _His head said. "Sookie means a lot to me," he said to the Norris. "Her son is my son,"

"Werewolf-wise," said Sookie, wondering if that term ever existed.

Calvin looked at her. "Wise choice, Hervaux."

"We are expected by the King," Eric's sudden presence behind her made Sookie jump.

"Eric..." she grabbed her chest, trying to prevent her heart from beating crazily.

"Forgive me, but we have to go,"

"What about us?" asked Calvin. "Should we accompany you, Sookie, or should we stay?"

"I think you'd better stay," said Eric. "This invitation is only for us. Alcide, I believe the Shifter has a lot to tell," he sneered at Sam. Then, he walked away, followed by Sigebert.

Sookie nodded at everybody and said goodbye. Alcide went after her. "Don't go to the palace, Sookie. I had a bad feeling about it,"

"Eric will be there, Alcide. Don't worry,"

"Call me, all right?"

Sookie nodded. "If James calls, don't say anything to him, please. I don't want him to get worried,"

* * *

Sigebert had glamoured a car driver that passed by to take him to Baton Rouge. "We don't have so much time," he said. "We have to drive fast,"

Eric smirked, whilst Sookie cringed. Eric loved driving fast, in fact, all vampires that she knew, loved driving fast.

And he did. Sookie could see how fast the speedometer moved. Sixty, seventy, eighty..."Eric, not so fast please...besides, you may not drive faster than 70 miles pro hour!"

Eric smirked. The speedometer went down, but only for a moment. "We have to reach Baton Rouge before dawn, Sookie,"

Sookie looked at her watch. It was 11.37. In this speed, probably they would arrive around two o'clock in the morning. They still had time to rest and she hoped they would not face any problem at the palace.

"We are expected by The King himself, Lover," said Eric. "They won't give us any problem,"

Sookie looked at him. His face was straight to the road. Somehow he looked different when he concentrated. His face looked hard and serious. He looked like an officer, who was standing in front of his troop and prepared to give his command. Then, Sookie realized, that his fangs were out. Eric was ready to kill.

"What happened to the Queen?" she tried to change the subject. Eric's readiness scared her. "Why did you speak in German?"

"Because that place is full with recording devices, cameras, microphones...you name it,"

"But they must have somebody who understands German!"

"They can try, if they can find somebody who understood middle age Saxony language,"

Sookie looked at him in disbelief. "Again, how many languages do you master?"

A smile broke that grim face. "Enough. I am old, Sookie. I've lived among human for a long time already. I've been around, here and there. To be able to mingle with human, I have to be one of them. Learn their habits, their languages and their cultures. I am a Viking and he is a Saxon. We come from the same root; maybe you know it as Germanic tribe? Our blood, our languages, they are similar. It's easier for me to learn it,"

"Still, it's amazing to know how many languages you can speak,"

"I know I am amazing. But it's good to hear you admitting it,"

Sookie laughed. The fear left her. Eric and his self-confidence!

He lifted his eyebrows and smirked.

"So, what was that all about? Why is it so hush-hush?"

"Sigebert said that it was difficult for him and his brother to keep up with the Queen. She barely slept and she didn't drink anything else but the True Blood that was sent especially for her. Her behaviour became more and more erratic. She gave orders and then she forgot about them and gave the brothers different orders, which against the previous ones. She ordered them to kill André, and then she asked them to look for André and bring him alive to the palace because she said, there was something that she wanted to tell him. Something secret that has to be done immediately before it is too late,"

"Did she say what it was?"

"No, she didn't say. She forgot it, but she believed that André knew it. She had to see André. She thought something was wrong,"

"We have to ask André about it,"

"I will not let André know about her condition," said Eric. "I don't trust him,"

"He will find out, sooner or later. The brothers will tell him, eventually,"

"I asked Sigebert to keep it as a secret between us," said Eric. "He is with the King now. It's better if the King doesn't know anything about it,"

"They are husband and wife. Don't they share secrets?"

Eric smirked. "They are politically married," said Eric. "Everything they do, they do it politically,"

Sookie did not know what it meant, but it did not sound good.

"The King wants to have Louisiana as a part of his territory. She is rich, beautiful and vast. To have Louisiana under his rule means money. What do you think will happen if he finds out that the Queen is sick and can't rule? He will conquer Louisiana in a minute and probably give a decree that the Queen is a dangerous threat to herself and Louisiana and bans her from the area. I prefer to work for The Queen than for the King. At least, I still can talk and reason with her. And we've known each other for centuries. We know what each of us thinks about some subjects."

"And you two share Pam,"

Eric smirked. "Yes, and we share Pam. Or Pam shares us, I am not sure about that,"

Would Eric share her with anybody else? Sookie wondered.

Suddenly, Eric turned the car to the side of the road and pulled over.

"What the...?"

Eric took her into his arms and kissed her. Sookie screamed as his fangs bored into her lips. It was burning and painful. Eric licked the blood that ran from the corner of her lips and as if he wanted to apologize with what he had done, he kissed her again, soft and long. Sookie felt how his tongue sucked her, how strong and passionate it was, made her unable to do anything else, but to move closer to him.

His eyes shone brightly as his face moved away. "Sorry about that," he touched her lips with his big and cold thumb. "No matter what will happen at the Palace, you are mine, Sookie Stackhouse. I will not share you with any other man; human, werewolves or vampires,"

Sookie touched his face. A warm feeling crept slowly in her body, and went out to her skin. "And I am yours to keep, show your claim to everybody to see,"

Eric stretched his body to the back part of the seat.

Sookie shrieked when she saw what Eric had in his hand. She knew that box; she knew it very well.

Eric opened the box and the dagger glittered under the Corvette's bright light. "This is not an appropriate place to ask a woman to marry," he smirked. Sookie knew what he was saying; he took a dig at Alcide. "But..."

Sookie cut his sentence by putting her finger on his lips. "You will be bonded together with me, Eric. I don't want you to do it because you have to. I want you to do it because you want to,"

Eric kissed her finger. "I will do whatever it takes to save you from André, but no, I don't do this because I have to. And yes, I know, I will be bonded together with you untill your end of time. Isn't that what you also want?"

"Yes," Sookie smiled. "Yes, that's what I want, but do you want it?"

"Stupid girl," he said. "Why do you think I do that if I don't want it? I am Eric Northman. Nobody can make me do what I don't want to,"

Sookie kissed him. "Yes, Eric. I want to marry you, too."

Eric smiled. "Good. Keep it as a secret. I want that we go along with their plans, and we see what will happen,"

Sookie nodded and returned to her position.

Eric started the car. "Two wives in a hundred year. I am going out of my mind. Women surely will be the death of me,"

Sookie looked at him, wondering how many wives had Eric had, but Eric did not give her enough time to think as he took his car to the main road and drove away.

* * *

They arrived at the Leclreq Palace around three in the morning. The sun did not rise yet, but the air was heavy with dews already. Soon, the sun would show his red face and it would be too late for the vampires to go in. The men in silver suit raised their weapons as soon as they saw the vampires, but when they saw Sigebert, they lowered their weapons. Sookie grabbed Eric's hand tightly and walked closely to him as they entered the Palace.

_Crazy woman._

She heard one of them said in his head.

_Slut. Whore of Satan._

Sookie closed her eyes and tried hard to ignore the voices, as the names they used to call her were getting nastier and nastier.

_I hope this aluminium suit will protect me from them. Jesus, I don't want to be a vampire._

Sookie stopped. Aluminium suit? It was not silver?

"Is something wrong, Sookie?" asked Sigebert.

Her face must have been pale, because she realized it was not only Sigebert, who wondered what was going on inside her head, but also the men in silver...aluminium suits.

Sookie cleared her throat. "No, nothing. It's just...the palace looked different in the night," It was dark and looked very intimidating with its guards, walking around the place.

Sigebert continued walking, but Eric gave her an assurance look not to be worried.

The King was not able to accept them now; his secretary told them. Tomorrow night would be more appropriate. It was almost dawn and soon the sun would rise. It would not give any benefit to any of them.

Eric and Sookie were led to the Eric's usual room. Somehow, it gave her a strange feeling. She had never seen Eric during the daytime. She knew that the palace, which was under the ground, gave the vampires the possibility to sleep outside the coffin. Still, she felt it was strange.

However, unlike at home, Eric lay down on the bed in his shirt and trousers. His light grey silk jacket he had put on the chair and his shoes he put under the bed, but the rest he kept. He wanted to be prepared if somebody or something entered the room without his permission.

Sookie took out her gun from her bag and put it under her pillow.

"I don't like that you sleep with that thing under your head," said Eric. "In fact, I don't like that you run around with it. It's dangerous,"

That was an irony. A vampire asked a human not to have a gun nearby because he thought that the gun was dangerous. Vampires were like loaded guns, in Sookie's eyes. They were able to kill at any time. And like guns, some of them were beautiful and some of them were ugly.

Eric took her in his arm. "Whatever you heard," he whispered. His voice was very low, it was difficult for her to understand what he was saying. "Keep it for yourself. I don't want anybody to listen to our conversation. Sometimes I wish you learn one of the foreign languages, so that we could talk without being afraid that somebody else might know,"

"What about sign language?" asked Sookie, teasingly. She looked at him and surprised to see Eric smirking. "Don't tell me, one of your lovers spoke the language,"

Eric kissed her forehead. "Try to sleep," he said, ignoring her sentence. "Stop thinking about me or my lovers...well, do think about me. It makes me sleep better,"

Sookie cuddled him tightly. Yes, she would think about Eric Northman and one of his lovers, mainly she herself. It indeed made her sleep better.

* * *

The red colour of the West sky fell on the water. The dark shadows of the willow trees moved carefully, touched by the wind, which slowly passed them by.

James threw a stone to the water. It made 'plump' sound and then sank. The little wave that it created did not even reach the edge before it disappeared.

Soon, he would be called by the Grey Hound clan members and be judged. He would be seen, checked, heard, perhaps even touched so that they could decide if he was fit to be the member of the clan or not. Why would they do that? He was even not certain if he wanted to join the clan or not! He was not certain about anything any more. Looking back at the days in Baton Rouge, everything had seemed so easy. He only had to go to school, play, eat and sleep. Sometimes, he went to theatre, or to have something to eat with Mom or his classmates; but only when he wanted to, he did not have to.

James sighed. It had seemed to be so easy. Godric said that all the time. 'You have an easy life, my friend. Enjoy it, while you can," Godric had started calling him 'my friend' as he entered his 10th birthday.

"Easy for you to say," he always argued. "You don't have to clean up your room, do your homework and listen to what your mother tells you!"

He wished he had listened to what Mom had told him!

James sighed. Godric was not here, Mom was not here either. He had to make a decision on his own. What should he do? Mom had not said much on the phone some minutes earlier. She left it all up to him and she would support him no mattered what. That was a relief. At least, he did not have to be worried if Mom would disagree with his decision or not.

A sound of a cracking branch made him turn around. A girl was standing some steps away from him. She had a short brown hair and a heart-shape face. Her cheek made two dimples when she said, "You should have not been here,"

"O yeah, why?"

"We normally take a bath here,"

"We?"

"Yes, we – the girls,"

James got up. "Sorry," he said. "I'll leave if you are going to take a bath,"

"No," that girl sat down. "My uncle told me to look for you,"

"Why is that?"

"Because your dog doesn't react so brutal when I get near,"

James looked around. Duke was sitting under a tree, and putting his head on the ground. He eyes were blinking innocently. That unfaithful dog! He had told him to give him a sign when somebody got near. He wanted to be left alone for a while, until the time came to face the Hounders. Of course, he also told him, if that person was Victoria, he should ignore her. But this girl was not Victoria, how could he ignore her?

"Don't be angry with him. It's just me. I can get along with dogs very well,"

James sat down. "Really? I can get along with dogs very well, too."

"Perhaps it's in your blood. They say, it's in my blood," she smiled. "I am not afraid with them. I am somewhat more comfortable around them than around the other werewolves. Don't ask me why, I just do,"

So, she was a werewolf.

James sighed.

"I am Laura,"

"James,"

"I know," she said.

Yes, she and the rest of the clan.

"You are nervous about tonight, aren't you?"

James nodded. "A bit, yeah,"

"It's okay, I guess. They all can be very mean when they want to,"

"Jeez, thanks, that's a big help,"

She grinned. Her canine teeth flashed. "Sorry, didn't mean to. But you look tough, so I thought you would handle it easily. You are not afraid of us, are you?"

"No," and that was an honest answer. He was not afraid or nervous about tonight, he was more afraid of deciding what he should do.

Laura threw a stone to the water. "I want to go away from this place, one day," she said. "You know, to see what's going on out there. Running Creek is beautiful and I love her, but I also want to see places, meet new people. I heard that Bon Temps is a beautiful place, my uncle couldn't stop talking about it, made me curious to go there,"

"You can go with me, if you want," said James. "Who's your uncle, anyway?"

"Doc," Laura said.

James looked at her. It was difficult to see that she was Doc's niece. She did not resemble him at all, thank god!

"I know, I know, I don't look like him. We are not related, blood-wise. His wife, or one of his wives, is my father's sister. But I get used to calling him uncle,"

"How many times did he get married?"

"I don't know. Seven, eight times, perhaps. We are tired of counting his marriage,"

"Wow!"

"Yeah," she rolled her eyes. "Wow!"

James smiled. This girl was cynical and cool; and before he knew it, he had told her a lot of things, his conversation with Godric (she thought it was cool to have a vampire as a friend); the reason he agreed to be Colin's blood brother; his relationship with Victoria; including his fear of choosing the right way. She listened carefully, and did not give him any comment. She threw some stones to the water, before she got up and said, "You know what, we all make mistakes, once or twice, but we learn from them. I think, you should think what the best is for you and for the people that mean a lot to you. I know, we also want to do something for ourselves, but we do it most of the time any way. Some of us could only dream of doing something good for the people that we care, let alone for the whole race. I am not saying that you should be a hero or something, but hey man, you are special. You are given a chance to choose. Look at me, I can't choose. I was born either as a werewolf or as a human. Would I choose of becoming a human, if I had a chance? I thought; I might. Just to know how it was to be a normal human, perhaps, or because of my disease. I don't know. I have a weak heart, you see, I can die if I face too much stress. The doctors should have been able to operate me, but the clan doesn't want it. I can turn into a werewolf during the operation or the post-operation, and they don't want to take a risk of disclosing the clan and other clans,"

"I am sorry to hear that," said James, feeling himself foolish. In front of him was a girl with a risk to die at any time, but she was willing to take that risk to save her clan. The answer of his problems – if he could call it as a problem, was very easy: his willingness to help others. He was given a gift to be able to control dogs and to talk to the wolves, a gift that saved some people's life, back then in Bon Temps, when the men in silver suits had attacked the mansion. Yes, he could step back and live his easy life in Baton Rouge, or to join the race that was in a difficult time: their members were being murdered by unknown people, for unknown reasons.

"I have no choice, you know. I am a product of marriage between close relatives. My mother is the first-degree cousin of my father; and my grandparents were first cousin to each other, so one weakness being carried by one generation after generation. I am the gene cesspool of all of it,"

"I am sorry," James took her hand and squeezed it a little bit, to show her that he cared. He put his head on the tree. "How is it, being a werewolf?"

"I don't know," she said. "I've never been out of Running Creek. Except full moon, I never have a chance to be a werewolf,"

"I mean...is it painful if you are turning?"

"No," she said. "It's kinda nice, though. All the rush in your blood, you know?" she looked at him. "Nah, you don't. You are not a werewolf,"

"No, I am not. But I know what a rush is, it's probably like when I was on a roller coaster,"

"Hmh, perhaps. Who knows, I've never been on a roller coaster before,"

"If you come to Baton Rouge, I'll take you anywhere you like," said James. "It's a date,"

Laura smiled. "Okay, it's a date, but only you and me. No adult, and no girlfriend or boyfriend,"

"You can come with your boyfriend if you want,"

Laura laughed. "I don't have any, _yet_." she emphasized the word 'yet', as if she wanted to tell him that it was a small detail, but very important one. "But I promise you, when I come to your place, I'll drag one along,"

James laughed. "Poor dude,"

She got up.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to the civilization. Come on! You don't want to stay here until the night, do you? It's nicer to sit around in the Hall. It's warmer and we can eat something,"

She was right. James got up. "Thanks, Laura,"

"For what?"

"Listening and making me feel better,"

Laura smiled.

They walked side by side; Duke followed them faithfully.

"If you can get along with the dogs, why didn't you calm him down last night," asked James.

"I was there," said Laura. "But he did not allow me to get near. I am not sure if he will allow me now. He was calm and quiet; he just did not let anybody get near to him. I did not understand why,"

"Maybe he was afraid that somebody might try to get rid off him," said James, tried to get information without revealing what he really knew.

"Who wants to do that?" Laura looked at Duke. "He is loyal and fierce. He is a very good dog,"

"You hear that, Duke? I think you have a new fan!"

Laura laughed. "Not that fast, Duke. Not that fast!"

"Will you be there at the meeting?" asked James.

"Oh, I don't know..." Laura looked thoughtful. "I may not vote for you, you know,"

"Why?"

"Clan-wise, you are my uncle,"

"What?"

"You are my uncle's brother, so you are my uncle,"

"I thought you were Doc's niece,"

"From mother's bloodline. From father's bloodline, I am Colin's niece. I am a Purefoy,"

"Jesus! Your clan desperately needs somebody new!"

"You can say that again!" Laura grinned. "The Purefoys may not vote tonight. If you can't join the clan, you are still a member of the Purefoy family. But if you marry a Purefoy, in this case it would be me because I am the last Purefoy who is still single, then you will be automatically a member of the clan, but still, you can't be a voter,"

"I am not going to marry anybody, at least not any time soon," said James with a regret. Had he been allowed to marry anybody, he would have married Victoria yesterday.

"Were you a werewolf, you could marry one of the Hounders next year. I heard you're fourteen,"

But he was not a werewolf! James sighed. "And you, how old are you?"

"I'll be fifteen in three months," said Laura.

"You could marry one of the Hounders in three months,"

"No way," said Laura. "I am going to leave this place and find a husband of my own, after I finish my school and probably get myself a degree,"

"O yeah? What do you want to be? My Mom is a very good lawyer, maybe I'll be a lawyer too,"

"I don't think about it, yet. But I like to paint. Maybe I will study painting,"

"You will definitely leave this place. Go to Italy or French. I always want to go to Stockholm!"

"Hey, maybe we can go together one day!"

"Yeah, let's do that. I like the idea!"

By the time they reached the hall, James felt much better. It had been for quite a while that he talked about school and travelling. He never imagined that talking about school could be relieving.

"But you can be there, can't you?" James asked her again. "Even if you can't vote?"

"I don't know. I'll ask Colin," she said, and then she leaned on him and whispered. "What about your girlfriend? She'll be there, won't she?"

"I don't know," he said. He had not seen her since the breakfast. "I hope so...why are you whispering?"

Laura shrugged. "I thought she was the police officer who wanted to arrest Colin,"

She was and she did, but still there was no reason for whispering. Then James saw a man, sitting beside Colin. His eyes were fixed on him. A bright yellow flickered in from those eyes, and on his face was a sinister smile. Victoria was not there, still. James sighed. Where was she?

"I'd better go," said Laura. Her voice was suddenly sombre.

She was afraid of something...or somebody. James could not explain how, but he could feel it. "Who is that man?" he asked.

Laura walked away. "Keane of the White Fang...see you, James..."

"Laura!"

As if Laura hadn't heard him, she kept on walking away.

"James!" he heard Colin calling him.

After telling Duke to stay outside, James went inside the hall. He realized there are three men that he had not seen before. Jack, Cooper and Prescott were there too. Reluctantly he walked towards them.

"James, these are our brothers from The White Fang," said Colin.

So, this was Keane. Whoever had said that last night, must have been close to Keane. "Hallo," he said.

Keane reached out his hand. Red grey hair covered his hand and his finger nails were long and black.

At first, James was not sure if he should take that hand or not. His heart beat faster. Why did he want to see him? He did not know that man or The White Fang.

"Have we met before?" asked Keane. His eyes were fixing on him, exploring every inch of his face. "That can not be..."

Papa. Keane tried to compare him with Papa. No, he may not do that. _Forget it. _James looked him straight into his eyes. _Forget what you are thinking. RIGHT NOW!_

"James..." he heard Cooper calling his name. "You are..."

He felt his knees weak, but before he fell, he felt somebody was holding him. "Stop it," he heard Prescott hissing. "You are still too weak..."

"Is he all right?" he heard Keane's voice.

James straightened his body. "I am fine, thank you." he said, trembling. He reached out his hand, and to his own shock, he saw his hand covered by the red hair he had seen in the morning. "I am James Stackhouse,"

Keane sneered. "Are you sure he is not one of us, Colin?" he grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously. "You clever old bastard!" he said. "He is more werewolf than my own son!"

James did not know if it was a compliment or a mockery, but he was glad that Keane did not stare at him with suspicious eyes any more. Cooper gave him a tissue. "You are bleeding," he said. "You should let Doc check you up,"

"I am all right, thanks," he said, sitting down.

Suddenly, Duke barked and growled, like crazy.

James wanted to stand up, but Prescott held him down. "I go and look," said the faery. Then, he left.

"Duke never behaved like that, honest," said James. "I am sorry, Colin...I don't want..." his sentence stopped as he saw the ones who were coming closer with Prescott. Larry and a woman.

"Mary-Star!" Cooper got up.

That woman ran into Cooper's arms; and in front of everybody, she kissed him.

"I thought you would stay in Kansas until tomorrow," Cooper said.

"And miss today?" she turned around. "You must be James. Larry has told me a lot about you, I am Mary-Star, Matt's wife,"

"Hi," James reached out his hand. Mary-Star and Larry stepped back. James could see how pale their faces were. At the corner of his eyes, he saw Duke standing at the door, snarling. He bared his fangs and ready to jump.

James' skin crawled. Duke was looking at Larry. He felt his heart beat faster and the headache that had gone came again, this time it was stronger. "Prescott..." he said. "Help..."

"James...are you..."

The room started turning and the last thing that he remembered was a familiar growling that he had heard last night.

* * *

Loud voices woke him up. James tried to open his eyes, but they seemed so heavy...

"That's it," he heard Uncle Jason's voice. "I take him home, tonight!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Jason!" Jack's voice was also loud. "He has to stay here until the decision is made. Alcide gave me..."

"Alcide is not his father! I am his uncle, I have the saying!"

"How do you know that he is not his father? Don't tell me that your sister told you, you said yourself that she never said..."

"I know! He is nothing like Alcide! And I don't care what Alcide said to you, he is coming home with me!"

Jack growled. "You don't want to cross me, Jay!"

"Uncle..." James forced his eyes and this time, he made it. Familiar faces started to show. Uncle Jason, Jack, Prescott, and Colin.

Uncle Jason came to him. "I am here, James. Don't worry, James. We are going home tonight,"

"It's too dangerous to cross the free way in the night, Jason," said Colin. "I told you why. After what happened last night, I can't let you or your nephew leave in the night. I have promised your sister to take care of him and I will do."

Uncle Jason sat down on the edge of the bed. "What do you want, James? I'll do what you want, just tell me,"

"Where is Duke?" asked James.

"Duke is outside, with Larry..."

Oh, no. Duke had to be beside him, he did not want Larry to harm him. "Duke! Come here, boy!" Suddenly his chest felt like burning. Oh...what happened to him?

Prescott asked Jason to move away. He sat down and grabbed his shoulder. "Listen to me, stop it. You can kill yourself if you continue doing it,"

James wanted to protest him, but the pain was getting stronger.

"You are not strong enough, son of táhshah," said Prescott. "Not yet. You have to learn to control your power...or to lose it. Decide, and its life will be yours. If you are in between and you continue using your power, your body will be used up by it and you will die. Please, for the love of your mother and the Grace of His Majesty, please, decide!"

James held Prescott tightly. "I'm afraid, Prescott..."

"We all are, my friend...we all are..."

James looked at Uncle Jason, who was shaking his head. On his face there was a pledge; he was asking him to stop doing whatever he was doing. James closed his eyes. Uncle Jason had never looked so worried like now. He knew that his uncle didn't want him to sacrifice his life for him, but James also knew how lonely Uncle Jason's life was. He almost had no friend at all because of his condition. His mother's face flashed in front of him. Mom was cool with whatever decision he was going to take; even deep in her heart – James was sure, Mom wanted him to be a normal boy who went to school and never knew the problems of the world. But he was not normal since his birth. An ancient wolf had sacrifice his life for Papa, the only thing to pay his deed back was by making him alive again, in him. And Papa...a distant figure that he had known recently...Papa did not like werewolves, or shifters or any other weres...he kept saying that in his mind...Papa who loved Mom like a mad man...who could not stop thinking about Mom...who called him 'my son' with proud voice, knowing that in him ran wolf-blood, Papa, as he told him about the reason he had accepted Colin's invitation as his blood-brother, had said, "You're a man now. Keep your promise, be loyal to the people you love, and be true to yourself. I expect nothing less and nothing more from you," And...Laura, who was happy and full of spirit despite her condition...

"What is he doing?" he heard Colin's voice, and then he heard somebody growling, some bones cracking...

Victoria...Victoria with the colour of night on her hair...orange colour of eyes...Victoria...

"Stop him!"Colin yelled. "Stop him now!"

Those were the people he loved and liked. They needed him and the only way to help them was by walking down the path that had been laid down for him since the day of his making, under a tree deep in the Bon Temps Wood. He knew there was no turning back and perhaps he would face more dangers than ever, but he was ready now. He chose to be a wolf.

And he waited. He waited something to happen, a sound of thunder, a scream, something. But nothing happened. The room was quiet, nobody was speaking. What he felt was Prescott's warm body and his scent, which reminded him of wet grass after the rain. Slowly he let him go and he opened his eyes.

In front of him, two big wolves were sitting, whimpering. One was grey and the other was white and brown. He turned around to see Uncle Jason. His uncle was standing with a pale face. On his forehead, pearls of sweat were running down. In a low voice his uncle hissed, "Who the fuck are you?"


	39. In Between

**Author's Note: ****The song that Godric sang is a Swedish children song. The author is unknown. The title: ****Vårvindar friska; ****the translation from the verse that I used:**

"_Klaga mitt hjärta, klaga och hör_

Cry out my heart, Cry out and hear

_Vallhornets klang, bland klipporna dör._

The herdsman's horn, now echo, then pale.

_Strömkarlen spelar, __Sorgerna delar_

River sprites playing, Sorrows dismaying

_Vakan kring berg och dal_

They wake in hill and dale.

**Thanks to Vic for her generous tips. **

Thirty-Eight

**In Between  
**

The lamp at the middle of the ceiling was on. Its bright light fell on each face, which turned away from each other. Outside, the darkness crept on the valley, slowly covered it with its black colour. One by one, the lamps were on. The sound of the night animals' song filled in the air, carried by the wind far to the meadows.

The members of the Grey Hound clans were busy preparing their hall. Their chattering mixed with the sound of chairs and tables fought the sounds of the animals and the night's hollowness. From time to time, laughter or a howl was heard; and somewhere somebody was singing.

James was sitting on his bed, was not sure what to do. Uncle Jason was still standing at the door. His face was as pale as any vampire was and his hands formed into fists. Colin, who had returned to his human shape, was now sitting at the floor, pulling his hair. Jack was standing beside the window; he was looking at something outside. Prescott was the only one, who looked at him straight into his eyes.

"What happened, Prescott?" He decided to ask. "Why did they act like that?"

"You have been changing, James."

"What do you mean? Did I turn into a wolf or something?" he looked at his hands. Everything looked normal. He did not see any long hair or black nails. He checked his teeth. He did not have any long canine teeth either, well; he had like many other normal human, but not as big as Colin's or Laura's.

"No. Your body shook heavily, and as your body was shaking, Jack and Colin turned into wolves. They were turning and they could not stop themselves. For them, you were like a bright light that blinded them; weakened them and your voice was echoing in their heads. As you chose to be a wolf, the other wolves would answer your calls,"

"How? I did not even say a word,"

"You didn't have to. Their wolf-blood heard and obeyed you. I told you that in your body runs the blood of one of the first-born. The king among the kings, created and taught by Kwatee himself,"

"That is nonsense," said Jack without turning around "The wolf that was created and taught by Kwatee had been long gone,"

"Who is Kwatee?"

"The Long Tooth's god, the trickster and shape-shifter," said Prescott. "What do you know about first borns, Long Tooth? You were born not so long ago. You should come and walk in the wood of Bon Temps during the dark winter. You will see that they are running as free as the wind that blows and touches the grass on the meadow,"

Jack turned around. His face was as pale as Uncle Jason's. "He is just a boy," he pointed at James and hissed. "He is not the son of Kwatee's wolf,"

"Are you going to challenge him, Long Tooth?" asked Prescott. "Or are you going to listen to his voice?"

Jack looked at James. He rubbed his mouth, sniffed and then turned his face away.

"This is insane," said Colin, slowly he got up. "I don't know if I should be happy or worried. I know that you are special as I laid my eyes upon you, Little Brother; but I never thought that I had brought such a strength and power to my people. A power, which I myself am not willing to keep,"

"Colin, I didn't know. I swear," said James. "My mother didn't know either,"

Jason pointed at him with his shaking finger. "You are not my nephew. My sister is not a werewolf and she was never with any werewolf!"

"No," said James. "My mother is not a werewolf, neither is my father."

The room was quiet.

"Coop told me about what had happened in the woods," said Colin. "I should have trusted him. I should have not brought you here,"

"What are you saying, Colin?" James' heart sank. "I thought you liked me, I thought you would like having me as one of your brothers,"

"I did and still do," Colin looked me, only for a while, and then he turned his face away, avoided James' stares. "I just don't know how to tell my people that I just lost against you,"

"What do you mean...I don't understand..."

"You are the leader of the Grey Hound now. You defeated the Alpha wolf of the pack," it was Jack, who said. His voice was low, almost unheard. "As the first lieutenant of the Long Tooth, I witnessed the fight,"

"No..." James shook his head. "No...I am not and I don't want to," James got down from the bed, but his weak knees could not hold his weight. He fell to the ground. "No, Colin. You are still the leader..." his hand was reaching out, but nobody moved. Even Prescott turned his face away, when James looked at him. The faery did not want to interfere with the werewolves' business.

James tried to get up, but it was useless. He could not move. His hands seemed to have lost their power. "Jack...look at me...Colin..."

Jack did not react; neither did Colin.

"Jack...Colin..."

Still no movement.

"LOOK AT ME!"

Like being forced by an unseen power, both of them looked at him.

"James..." said Prescott. "Don't..."

"_You will forget what you saw..."_

Plop. A drop of blood fell from his nose.

"James...stop it..."

"_You will forget what you heard.."_

Plop, plop. Now the blood did not only fall from his nose, but also from his mouth.

"_Today is for you never happened..."_

"James!"

And the room fell into the darkness.

When James opened his eyes and around him was pitch dark. He could not see anything, not even his own nose, as if he was in a hole deep under the earth. Carefully he got up, looked around, and called everybody's name, but nobody answered him. His voice echoed in the darkness. Where was he? Was he still in the room?

"James..." suddenly he heard a familiar female voice.

"Mom?" He looked around. He was sure nobody was there!

"James..."

"Mom...where are you...?"

From a distant, he saw a white shimmering light coming towards him. The closer that shimmering light was, the clearer it was for him that it was a wolf. It was not just any kind of wolves, but a white grey wolf with a pair of bright yellow brown eyes. Strange, he did not feel afraid or panicking, he even felt as if they had known each other.

That wolf stopped in front of him and raised his head majestically.

"Hey you..." he said, reaching out to touch his head, but suddenly the wolf stepped backwards and galloped away. Then, he stopped, turned his head around and looked at James. He wanted James to follow him.

"What...?"

James wondered why he could not 'talk' to him. He tried to think something nice, but his head seemed to be empty. No familiar faces popped up. He tried to imagine Victoria, but even her face was not there.

He decided to follow the wolf. It seemed that he was on some kind of road, he could not see anything, and the road under his feet was smooth. The darkness was surrounding him like his skin. He relied completely on the light that came from the wolf's fur. "Where are you taking me?" he asked. But there was no answer. The wolf continued galloping. Why the wolf was not able to answer him...why was he not able to understand him, the way he and the dogs understood each other? Yeah...where was Duke? "Duke...come here, Boy!" His voice was again echoing in the dark. Where was he?

It was strange that he did not feel afraid or worried that something might happen to him. He even felt...peaceful. Shouldn't he be feeling the opposite?

Suddenly the wolf stopped. He turned around and sat down. From out of nowhere, another shimmering light emerged. It was a man, with long blond hair and slim figure. For a short moment, a crazy hope took over him and told himself that it was Papa; but he was too short to be Papa. His green cloth was thin, floating on the air like a leaf. He walked slowly towards him. He moved elegantly, as if his feet were not on the ground. James looked down to see. No, his feet were on the ground...and he was bare feet. The closer that man was, the clearer James could see his face. Somehow he reminded him to Uncle Jason.

"Hallo, James," that man said. "I am Fintan, your great grandfather,"

They were almost at the same height, so that James could explore his face. That man had the almond shaped eyes of Uncle Jason, but the colour was pale grey. His long hair that flew on the air was blond. Although he looked a lot like Uncle Jason, something in the way he looked at him that reminded James to Mom. He had that warm ere around him that made people feel close to him, just like Mom.

"How do you know my name?"

"I am your great grandfather. I know everything about you,"

"You can't be," said James. "You are not much older than I am,"

"I am a faery," he said. "I am blessed to have a longer youth. You are also a faery and you will be blessed with a longer youth,"

"Yeah, right," James snorted. "First, I am a vampire's son; and then a wolf-blooded; now I am a faery,"

"You are, that's what makes you unique. Come, walk with me,"

They walked side by side. The wolf walked in front of them. And everywhere they walked, the shimmering light shone on the ground.

"I've never seen a wolf like that," said James. "He is much bigger than the others. He is even bigger than Colin!"

"He is the wolf that gave his life and blood to Godric's son, James," said Fintan. "He is your father,"

James stopped and so did the wolf. "My father?" His knees seemed too weak to support his weight and he fell. His father?

The wolf walked towards him and to James' bewilderment, the wolf licked his face. James' body was shaken. His father...? Trembling, he stroked his neck. His father..."I thought...I am Eric Northman's son..."

"You are. Godric's son gave you the body and Filtiarn gave you the blood. It can't be explained easily, James. There was a strong magic that bonded them together, a strong magic that only the King of Faery possesses it,"

"Filtiarn..." James touched the wolf. "My father..."

"Lord of the Wolves, that's how we called him. The most majestic wolf I've ever seen, and I have seen many,"

"But if he gave Papa his blood...doesn't it mean that he's dead?"

"He is and so am I."

"Am I dead too?"

"Do you want to?"

"That's a very strange question, dude,"

"You are in between, my dear Boy. You are neither living nor dead. You have a choice to come with me and your wolf father, or to return to your mother and father who are waiting for you far behind,"

Slowly James got up. Fintan was serious. He stood straight, his eyes were narrowing and his hands crossed over his chest.

"I am not even finished my school yet," said James. He was not sure if he was complaining or just saying. "I want to be a lawyer just like Mom, you know...but now, I am a wolf and perhaps I will die soon..."

"We all have to die, James. I always believe, it is our rights to live, but it is our duty to die. We can't escape from it; but until then, it is our rights to fill our lives with wishes, dreams, deeds and mistakes. Sometimes we forget that just because it is our rights, we think that we must have them. Unfortunately, it is not always that way. Many times, we have to choose between what we have to do and what we want to do. Will we regret our decisions, let me put it this way, it's like choosing a seed. What you do after you chose the seeds is what matters. You could let the seeds dried away and die or you could take care of the seeds and watch them grow and bloom to a beautiful tree. Sometimes we have doubts whether we made the right decisions or not, this is what I believe, we can see it from the fruit of that tree,"

"What if I made the wrong decision, Grandfather? Can I go back and change it?"

"No, but you can make the best out of it and fill your time with something that you believe can be useful for you or for others,"

"And if I decide to come with you, and then I don't like what I see there, can I go back?"

Fintan shook his head. "No," then he put his hand on James' shoulder. Shimmering golden dust was flying from the shoulder as his hand touched the shoulder. James touched that hand. Strange, it was like touching some flour. His hand landed on his shoulder instead of Fintan's hand.

"You are...you are..."

"I am not solid any more," Fintan smiled. "I am a faery. When a faery dies, he becomes dust. And if a faery fulfils his tasks, he becomes an angel,"

_James...min vän..._

Suddenly James heard Godric's voice.

"Godric...?"

"_Klaga mitt hjärta, klaga och hör_

_Vallhornets klang, bland klipporna dör._

_Strömkarlen spelar,_

_Sorgerna delar_

_Vakan kring berg och dal."_

James heard Godric's voice, softly singing in his ears repeatedly. "Godric!" He looked at Fintan and Filtiarn. As his eyes met Filtiarn's yellow eyes that wolf bared his fangs and made an angry position, he was about to jump. "What is he doing?" he ask Fintan, confused.

"He wants you to leave," said Fintan. "You two will meet again, when the time comes,"

His heart sank. This meeting was too short. He wanted to know about him...

_James..._

James turned around. "Godric?"

"Go," said Fintan. "Go now..."

Something cold touched his lips. James touched his lips. Under the shimmering lights he saw that it was thick and red. Was it blood? He licked it...why did it taste like Mom's pie when it smelt like vanilla? Mom's pie never smelt like vanilla before...he licked it again...but it was cold, just like Mom's pie...

"Until we meet again, James..."

_Yes, my friend. _"Drink it," Godric's voice was getting stronger as Fintan's and Filtiarn's figure were moving away and slowly disappeared in the darkness and he felt as if he was sucked out of the hole. He closed his eyes. Was he dying now? But why was there bright light hitting his eyes?

"My friend..." a cold touch on his head welcomed him as he opened his eyes. Godric was sitting on the edge of his bed with his wrist on his mouth. He realized, he was sucking Godric's blood. Shocked, he pushed that hand away.

Godric smiled. "Come, drink it. You need it," he said in Old Norse. "Your father's blood will not help you this time. It is weak already,"

Godric knew that he drank Papa's blood.

"His blood is mine, James," he said, as if he knew what he was thinking. "I can feel what you feel. Now, drink. I beg you. You are not in the condition to refuse it,"

Reluctantly, James took that hand and sucked the blood that was flowing out of the two small holes on the wrists. A warm feeling crept over his body and soon he felt better. The headache was gone; the pain on his chest was also gone.

Godric moved away, as James let his hand go. Now James could see that his room filled with more people. Cooper was now there, also an old man, whom he had never seen before. James forced himself to sit. It was embarrassing to be surrounded like this. "Why are you here, Godric?" he asked in Old Norse.

"Prescott had asked me to come," Godric said. The wound on his hand was closing rapidly in front of his eyes. "He was afraid he might have failed His King. So I came, under the objection of the your new brothers, which I could understand,"

"How long was I unconscious?"

"Three hours, more or less,"

"Speak with the language we understand, Pale Skin, or hold your tongue," the old man said.

Godric turned around and looked at him. "Forgive me," he said in English. "We get carried away,"

That old man came to James. His wrinkling hand touched his. His small eyes flickered and turned yellowish. "What is the name of your father, Child?"

James looked at Godric. Should he say that it was Eric Northman? But Godric did say anything. His pale grey eyes did not even blink! "His name...?" What should he say?

"Yes, Child. His name."

Three faces flashed in front of his eyes: Alcide, Papa and Filtiarn the wolf. His heart beat faster. Cold sweat slowly ran on his back. Which one should he mention? He looked around, but nobody looked at him. Uncle Jason was staring at his feet; Prescott stood still and stared at the darkness. Godric gave him his back.

Fintan's words ran in his ears. He knew they would find out sooner or later. If he became the member of The Grey Hound, and they found out from somebody else, he felt as if he had betrayed him. It was better now than too late. If they refused him for what he was, at least he knew what kind of people they were and he had no reason to stay.

His voice was clear when he said, "My name is James Frederic Northman-Stackhouse. My father is Eric Northman, Vampire Sheriff of Area 5, Shreveport-Louisiana,"

Uncle Jason turned his head so fast that James was afraid he might have broken his neck. Jack moved some steps back and touched the jacket holder, which caused a loud noise when the holder fell to the ground. Only Colin and Cooper were the ones who did not seem to be surprised.

"As my father was sick, he was given wolf-blood by the Faery King of Bon Temps," James continued. "I believe, I am also the son of Filtiarn, the wolf of Bon Temps Woods. Alcide Hervaux had adopted me as his son. I don't know which one, whom you might accept as my father, but for me, all of them are,"

That old man smiled. The wrinkles on his face were getting deeper. "I admire your honesty," he said. "It is a good quality of a man to have such honesty and he is not afraid to tell the truth even when he knows that he will face a lot of troubles because of it. Son of Three Fathers, that should be your name, when my people accept you as one of us,"

That did not sound so good, thought James. Mom might misunderstand and be misunderstood because of it. However, he said, "Thank you, but James Stackhouse would be just fine,"

That old man nodded. "Have some rest," he said. "Soon, you have to come to the hall,"

"Yes, sir," said James.

Then he went out of the room.

"Who is he?" he asked to Colin.

"One of our wise men," said Colin. He took a deep breath."Little Brother, you scared me to death. I thought, I had lost you,"

"I am sorry," said James. "I didn't mean to,"

Colin smiled. His eyes were watery. "I'll leave now. Soon, you will be summoned. Have some rest. You will need it," Then, he left the room, followed by Cooper.

Jack looked at him, opened his mouth and tried to say something, but nothing came out. After a while, "Did Alcide know? About Northman?"

"I don't know," said James. "But I will tell him,"

Jack moved his hands around, and then he said. "I need to drink," then he left the room.

James looked at Uncle Jason, who stood with his mouth open. "Uncle..." he said.

"This..." he stroked his hair. "Is it even possible? I mean...He is a vampire...vampires can't have babies, can they?"

James watched his uncle's twisting face. Maybe he was trying to figure out how it could happen. The anger and the shock from previous incident were no longer seen. Sometimes James wondered how it was to be a simple minded like his Uncle. Lafayette said that Uncle Jason was not the sharpest knife in the drawer and he could not think longer than his nose, but James liked his Uncle Jason. He was very good in martial arts and guns. He taught him a lot about football (Uncle Jason had been the Quarter back of his high school football team and probably would have had a career in a professional football club if he had not been injured). Of course, he could not ask Uncle Jason about his biology or mathematics homework, but it was okay. Nobody was perfect.

"Jesus, James," finally Uncle Jason said. "You scared me to death, honest. I thought you were dead and now this. My sister and that damn vampire...I never thought I would have a vampire as a brother-in-law!"

Godric turned around. His pale face looked shocked. "Were they married?"

"I fucking hope so!" said Jason. "He can't just knock my sister up and doesn't marry her!"

"Why are you asking, Godric?" asked James. "I would like them to get married...you know...it would be nice,"

Godric did not answer, but his mind said, _I hope he knows what he's doing._

That was strange. Wasn't Godric supposed to be happy to know that Papa and Mom finally got together?

A long sound of a horn suddenly filled the air. The members of the Grey Hound Clan were summoned to gather in the Long Hall. And one long howling was answered by the other, soon the valley of Running Creek was like a concert hall, where the singers and musicians performed their songs.

The Running Creek Valley had been forbidden for any human to enter. There were a lot of wolves packs running around, the rumour said, although the human had never seen any wolf entered the town, they believed it. The howling sound, like now, was carried far away until the nearest town and it was enough to spread the gossip. "Thanks to the Ranchers," the people in the town would say. "They are really good in keeping those beasts away from the town," The members of The Grey Hound would only nod and leave the stupid human believed whatever they believed. As long as they did not stick their noses in the area, the Hounders would leave them alone.

"What will happen to me, Godric?" asked James. "What happen if they don't accept me as their member?"

"You will still belong to the clan of your adopted father,"

"Do you think Papa will agree?" asked James, and he did not why, he felt relief to be able to talk about Papa in front of somebody else besides Godric.

"Eric let you go, didn't he?"

"Yeah,"

"He would have stopped you if he had thought you had done something wrong, or something that was against his wishes,"

"You didn't tell him anything, did you?"

"Our relationship was different, James. I don't have to order him anything, he will do whatever he thinks it suits us the best, and I never question his decision,"

James looked Godric and then Uncle Jason. He knew his life would change after tonight, and he was glad that both of them were here.

As James entered the Long Hall, he was surprised to see how few people were there. He counted around twenty, maximum twenty-five. Cooper said to him that some of them were old and sick. The children and the ones who were not considered adult yet, were sleeping. There were eight Purefoys in the clan, but none of them was allowed to enter the Hall, except Colin – since he was the leader of the pack, and Laura – because according to her, in which James nodded, she had been invited by him. Ten men were out to guard the ranch and their voices were represented by their family members. "We are only seventy-two people, James," said Cooper. "We need new members,"

Seventy-two members of a werewolf pack, that was very few. Especially some of them were old and sick. And he realized, there were not so many girls or women in the hall. There were three girls and five older women. One of the girl was Laura, who smiled at him as their eyes meet each other,

"Have a seat, young man," said the old man, whom James had met before.

James looked around and decided to sit beside Laura. Godric and Prescott stood at the back away from the people. Uncle Jason chose to sit among the others. "Hi!" he whispered at Laura. "You have to help me get away from this,"

"What will I get for return?"

"A ticket to Italy?"

Laura grinned. "You are that rich, eh?"

"No, but my father is,"

"Deal,"

Suddenly, the headache came again; like a wave, it came and went. James spread his look around. The Hounders were whispering to each other. The Hall was full of noises; although they were spoken low and inaudible, the sound of it was like a hammer hitting his head. James grabbed his head. What was happening to him?

"James, are you all right?" asked Laura.

"I have headache since the morning,"

_Concentrate, my friend. _He heard Godric speaking to him through his head. _Concentrate and think something that makes you feel good._

Victoria...he said her name in his head. Victoria...where was she? Why wasn't she here, in this important moment? Victoria...in his t-shirt and wore nothing under it...Victoria, lying naked on his bed and smelt so good...Victoria...

Suddenly his headache stopped, and so did the noises. James realized every pair of eyes was staring at him. Had he done something wrong?

The old man who had been in his room stood. "Brothers and sisters," he said. "I, Gonzalo Lupo, welcome this child – Colin's little brother; to our meeting tonight. So let he be judged,"

His heart, which had calmed down for some second ago, again beat like a racing horse's heart. James swore it jumped out of his chest and had a live of its own.

Laura grabbed his hand, which was shaking uncontrollably. "Don't worry." she whispered. "They always make it sound worse than it actually is,"

James forced himself to smile. If they asked him how to solve the problem that the werewolves were facing now, he had no idea. He also did not know what to say if they asked him about their problems in the ranch. Nervously James admitted that he had no idea about many things that happened surround him, before or after he moved out to Bon Temps. To be honest, he even did not know if he would be able to change as a wolf or not. He just knew that he chose to be a wolf because he wanted to be close with people whom he cared.

But as he heard the first question, he felt relief. One of them asked about the name of his mother. That was easy, then his age, school, hobby and other things which made him feel as if he was filling in a form of a date website or a gossip forum.

"We heard that your mother is a vampire's lover," a man, who sat on his right said.

"Yes,"

"If you have to choose, to defend a vampire or a werewolf, what will you do?"

James looked at that man, and then at Godric. Godric smiled and nodded. He left it up to him. James sighed. He expected the question somehow, but still he was not sure with his answer. "I don't know," he said.

The man groaned. "You don't know?"

"No," said James. "Until I know which one started, you know, who did something wrong first. I have to know the mistake too. It's like 'innocent until it proves guilty' motto," somehow he was glad that he read some of Mom's books.

The room was full with whispering.

"If there's a war between vampires and werewolves, what would you do?"

"I..." he searched for a help in Uncle Jason's eyes, but his uncle was as confused as he was. He could see from his uncle's eyebrows, which met in the middle; that his uncle was thinking as hard as Jason Stackhouse could – which meant, not so much. Soon James saw his uncle smiling like an innocent boy. Whatever his uncle had found as an answer, it must have been good - if it had been good for anybody else, it must have been good for his uncle himself. Then, he looked at Godric and Prescott. Both of them were like statues, standing beside the door without showing any sign of emotions or reactions. James realized he had to answer the question himself.

"I wish it will not happen, and if it happens, I...I don't know...shouldn't we try to create peace between us...?" James sighed. "I..think...one should choose for the right one and not based on the race...can I call us a race...anyway, I think one should choose rights over races. I will try to avoid any war, but if I can, then I will choose the right one, whether it will be werewolves or vampires,"

"Even when it means you have to kill your parents?"

James looked at the man straight into the eyes. "Would you kill your parents, for whatever reason?"

Those eyes flickered and yellowish. "My father is a werewolf, as his father before him. My position is clear,"

"Would you?" asked James.

That man bared his canine teeth. Strange, but James was neither afraid or impressed by it. "What is the difference?" he continued. "You and I are the same. You have parents, and so do I. My parents might look different from yours, but I believe we love them just the same. I don't know how it is among you, but I believe murder is a crime, and to commit a crime against somebody that we love is much worse than the crime that we commit to others. Because we love them, if we can kill somebody that we love, it will be easier to kill somebody whom we hate, and it will be much much easier to kill somebody that we don't know or we don't care.

Look, I came here because Colin invited me. I accepted Colin's invitation because..." he looked at his uncle and wondered if he should tell them the truth or not.

Everybody was waiting for him to continue.

James had no other choice, but to continue. And he did not want to lie. "...because...family is important for me. Colin lost his brother, and my uncle is drifting away from us. He doesn't feel as if he belonged to us any more since he was bitten by a werepanther,"

The heads in the room turned to Uncle Jason, which looked uncomfortable and lost.

"I thought at that time, if I accepted Colin's invitation and he was willing to accept my uncle as a part of the members, maybe my uncle would find something like friends and home. I might have not known Colin very well, but I know other werewolves a little bit, like Alcide Hervaux; and I like him, not because he is my adopted father, but because I think he cares a lot about other people. If Alcide likes Colin, I think I can trust Colin,"

"Your father has taught you well," one of the man said.

"No," said James. "It is my mother and my friend Godric, who have taught me many things," he smiled at Godric. That old vampire smiled back. "I met my father only recently,"

The women in the hall laughed and some howled.

James grinned. It would have been nice, if Mom had been here. He felt warm. Yes, he would tell Mom when he returned.

"Who is your father?"

Bum-bum, bum-bum, bum-bum. James swore he could feel his heart jumping out of his chest. This was the moment of truth. He looked at Godric. Perhaps it was only his eyes that deceived him, but he thought he saw Godric forming his hands into fists.

Gonzalo, again, stood up. "Let us give our promises and be bonded to it, that we will keep this truth as a part of our clan's secret, until the boy says otherwise,"

There were some murmurs among the people in the hall.

"Raise your hands to those who agree," said Colin.

One by one, the hands were raised. Were that 15 or 16? How many people were in the room anyway? James turned around to see if Laura raised her hand or not, but she did not. "I am a Purefoy," she whispered. "I may not vote, remember?"

Yeah, right. He had forgotten about that. Colin did not raise his hand either.

"Twelve," said Colin. "Those who do not agree?"

Twelve? Jesus, if there were twenty-five people in the room, he was doomed!

The hands were raised.

"Twelve,"

Phew. Draw.

"There are three of you who do not give your votes. Any reason?"

Three left?

Two men and one woman stood. "We want to know who the father is before we take any decision,"

That was just tricky.

"James?" Gonzalo looked at him.

It seemed that there was no escaping. "My father is Eric Northman, the vampire sheriff of Area 5, Shreveport, Louisiana,"

The room became quiet. James could see cold breath slowly weighing down the air.

Somebody cleared his throat. "And your wolf-father?" James saw that it was Doc. "You might be able to hide your blood from others, but not from me. I don't buy the your-father-is-a-vampire thingy. I can smell your gland, and I can smell your blood too,"

"My father is Eric Northman, as he was sick; the Faery King replaced his blood with his wolf. His name was Filtiarn,"

Suddenly the room filled with roar. Filtiarn? He heard somebody yelled out. That could not be! That boy was lying...

"What is so special about his name?" he asked Laura, but Laura did not say. She could not say. Her face was pale.

"What is so special about his name?" finally he yelled out. "It was the name that was given to me by my great great grandfather,"

"Granddad Caleb?" It was Uncle Jason, who asked. He was as confused as before, if not even more. "Granddad Caleb had died long time before the Sheriff knew my sister!"

"Fate has played tricks on us," said Gonzalo. "His Granddad's name is Caleb, which means dog, and his wolf-father is Filtiarn, the Lord of the Wolves,"

James' jaw dropped. Now he knew why there had been uproar. Had Filtiarn been really the Lord of the wolves or had it been just a name? But Granddad Caleb was not his real great great grandfather, was he? He looked at Godrick and then at Prescott. The faery shook his head. He did not want James to tell them about Fintan.

"And your adopted father is Alcide Herveaux," a loud voice was above the others. "What would he say about your decision to accept Colin's invitation?"

"He was the one, who introduced us – my Mom and I, to Colin. He was there, and he witnessed it. He supported my decision,"

"And the Sheriff?"

Papa respected his decision, was it too much to say that? James thought for a second and then decided to tell them. "He respects my decision,"

"What does it mean?"

"He doesn't like it, but he can live with it. After all, it is my life and I am the one who has to live it. He just asked me to make the best out of it,"

The room was against loud.

_My child, _James heard Godric's thought, not directed to him but more to himself. _Was and is always pragmatic. _

James smiled. Godric had spoken it with such warmness in his voice. Godric loved Eric.

_I don't like when you eavesdropped like that, My friend. _Godric's pale eyes were at him. _Some privacy I must have._

"Sorry," he murmured.

"Don't be," Laura whispered. "This is fun. I've never seen my people get so worked up like this before," then she grinned.

After some moment, Gonzalo raised his hand. "My brothers and sisters, what say you? Do you or don't you agree to keep the identity of his father?"

Slowly, the voices were down. The three persons who were abstain looked at each other.

"I vote for yes," the first one say.

"I vote for no," said the other.

The woman looked at James, and then at Laura. She closed her eyes. James' heart beat faster and faster, when she opened her eyes and smiled. "I vote for yes,"

Aargh! Jesus! James swore, one more shock like this, he would end up at a hospital!

"So be it," said Gonzalo. "James, and Purefoys; please, leave the room,"

"Why?" asked James.

"We may not hear the debates on the decisions so that they are free to speak their mind and you or the Purefoys will not have a hard feeling against the ones who say it,"

James had a different opinion about 'free to speak up the mind', but he thought it would not be a good idea to tell Laura about it.

He left the room together with Laura, Colin, Prescott and Godric. The old vampire asked him to walk with him.

"Did I do something wrong, Godric?"

"No, but prepare yourself if they refuse you," he said. "Even if they accept you, you have to be very careful with whatever you do among them." Then, he looked at him. His pale grey eyes were sparkling. "Alas my dear friend, you have to grow up so soon," He took James in his arm. He always surprised to realize how strong Godric was, despite his fragile look. His cold body was as hard as marble and his hug was like a dead grip.

"Godric..." James was choked. "You suffocate me,"

"Sorry," said Godric and let James go. "I always forget that part of you is human." He touched James' face. "Jag älskar dig, James. With all my heart. You are the dearest thing to me, even before your father,"

Why did Godric sound like he was saying goodbye? "Godric...are you leaving me...?"

"As soon as you are accepted by the Grey Hound, my friend. I can't be longer your friend. I am bonded to a vow I made long time ago not to interfere with the werewolves' matters,"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because, my friend, I want you to follow your heart. I am old, James. It's your time now to do something for the human. I have to meet my maker, sooner or later,"

"Don't say that, Godric..."

"I love you, James. Remember that, always," He smiled. "You drank my blood, I will always be able to find you and to feel you,"

"James!" Colin called him. "They are ready!"

"That fast? That can't be good," said James.

Godric tapped his shoulders. "If they don't agree, you'll leave this place with me, tonight,"

"Thank you, Godric."

Godric smiled. "Be brave,"

The Long hall was quiet. Every pair of eyes was directed at him. All of them were flickering and yellowish. Gonzalo's eyes were completely yellow as he walked toward him and reached out his hand. It was covered with hair and his finger nails were black. "Welcome home, Son of Three Fathers,"

Suddenly the Long Hall was filled with howling and cracking bones. Some of the Hounders shaped into wolves and some were howling.

James looked at his hand, which covered by the fur. He did not know why his body was getting warm and he felt like he was hit by warm air, but he liked the feeling. When Gonzalo hugged him, he felt his warm embrace and felt that he was really welcomed and accepted. He had found his home.

Beside the door, Godric was looking at him, smiling. But James swore, he looked sad.

Later on, James sat beside the fire among the Hounders, who one by one tapped him on the shoulder or offered him some food. When they played some music, with guitars and harmonica, the women asked him to dance. "I can't dance," he said.

"Laura, teach him to dance!" some of the women said. "Show him how!"

Laura smiled and pulled him to middle of the circle. "Come!" she said. "I'll show you," But after some stepping and almost falling, Laura gave up. "You're hopeless!" she said. "You really need to learn how to dance!"

"Yeah, I know," sighed James. He hated dancing. Jealously, he watched his uncle dancing with two women. Uncle Jason was good in that kind of thing. He sighed. Opposite to where he was sitting, Cooper was sitting beside his wife. His arms were around her, but his eyes were at Prescott who talked to Godric. James could only hope that Mary-Star would never come to him and ask him about them. Some chairs away from them were the twins. Sitting between them was a woman with red hair. Her hair was so bright, James swore it was catching fire.

"That's their wife," said Laura.

"What?"

"She's Chad's wife, officially. Unofficially, she is also Al's woman,"

"I don't understand,"

"Look at us, James. Our clan has more men than women. The clan allows the women to take more than one partner, as long as they are members of the clan. The twins fall in love with the same woman, and people say, Al will do anything for his twin brother. We all know that Sandy preferred Al to Chad. We always thought that Al would marry her one day, but when Chad told Al that he loved Sandy, too; and wanted to marry her,"

"Ouch…that didn't sound good,"

"No, but like I said, Al will do anything for his twin brother. So, he asked Sandy in front of the clan for Chad,"

"He did what?"

Laura looked at Al who was pulling Sandy to the circle for dancing.

"Sandy accepted the proposal and asked Al to be the second man in the family,"

"She did what?"

"You heard me. The Clan's rule, if a man asks a woman to be the wife for another man, this man can't marry her if she refuses the proposal. Al wanted to close his chance to marry her or to be with her, so that if Sandy refused Chad, he would not have a chance to have her either, unless Sandy became a widow of a third man,"

James stared at Laura, to make sure that he did not hear wrong.

"Al loves Chad more than anything in this world," Laura's eyes were sparkling. "He is a god," she said. Now Al was kissing Sandy.

"It was hard for Chad to accept that decision," Laura continued.

James could understand Chad. Even now, he could see that Chad was jealous seeing his wife with his own brother kissing like that. His eyes were flickering and yellowish. His hand, which was holding a bottle of beer was slowly covered by fur and his fingers were growing long and black.

"I remembered the day Al asked Sandy to marry Chad, Chad had been so angry to hear Sandy's answer that he put on his cloak and attacked Al. He jumped on his brother with full power that Al was thrown to the ground. Chad was on him with his teeth on Al's throat."

"Oh, no…"

"Oh, yes. You know what Al did? He gave his throat to his brother. He didn't fight back, nothing. He even closed his eyes and ready to accept whatever his brother would give,"

James looked at Al. He was taking Sandy's hand and leading her to Chad. He sat beside Chad and laughed when Sandy whispered something in his ears. Sandy was now sitting on Chad's lap and kissing him. It seemed to James, Sandy could also see that Chad was jealous. As they broke the kiss, James saw Chad smiling. His face was red, James was not sure if it was because of the beer that he had drunken or ashamed for being jealous. Then slowly he got up; taking the hand of his wife, he called his brother to come with them.

The three of them left the fireplace.

"Chad left the clan after that day and Al like a mad man looking for his brother everywhere. He felt guilty about it. For days he looked for him. He went to the small villages around our ranch in the day, and howled like a mad dog during the night. We were afraid that Al would lose his mind. If Chad had not returned, he would have left the clan too. But then Chad returned a week later. Obviously, he could not live without his twin brother either. They both looked miserable and starving. None of them had enough sleep or food. A week later, he married Sandy. A month later, Al moved into their household," Laura pointed a house far on the West; James saw three figures walking towards it. Two figures were walking arm in arm, and one figure was holding the hand of the figure in the middle. "They have been together for four years,"

James swallowed his soda pop, which suddenly was hard on his throat. "This is definitely a weird clan,"

"They have three children," Laura continued, ignoring James' reaction. "One is Chad's; two are Al's. All of them are werewolves,"

"Al got two?"

"Twins," said Laura.

"How do they know who is whose?"

"Hello? DNA test?"

"Absolutely weird,"

It was late in the night when the fire was getting smaller and finally off. The smoke, which came up from the burnt wood, formed a straight pillar. Some stayed, and some excused themselves to go to bed. Godric said goodbye to him. Soon, it would be dawn. He had to find a place to sleep. He asked James not to think about anything tonight, had a nice sleep, he had been through a lot. He asked James to call him tomorrow. His blood might not work any more, and he would be weak. If he needed more blood, he would send his father to come.

"Why Papa?" he asked.

"You're a member of a werewolf clan now and I am tied to my vow, my dear friend. I can't help you, unless your life is on the line," Godric smiled. "Until the day, James," Then, within a blink of an eye, he was gone.

James sighed. "Godric is gone," he said. This time, perhaps, for a long time. Slowly, he returned to the circle of fire. Bidding everybody goodnight, then walked to his room. Prescott was following him with his eyes. He was talking to Cooper and Colin and it seemed he could not leave the spot, even if he wanted to.

Laura smiled at him as he passed her by. "Tomorrow, I'll take you to the waterfall on the North, if you want,"

James nodded. "Good night, Laura,"

"Good night, James,"

James dragged himself to his room. He felt pumped up. The energy that he had got from drinking Godric's blood seemed to have left his body. All the tensions and the worries that he had had during the meeting, and then the dancing, must have drained his energy completely. There was no other place that he wanted to go, but his bed. He would bury his face on the pillow and dream about Victoria. Where was she anyway? Had she already gone? Hadn't she said that she would stay here as long as Colin was here?

James opened his room's door. He hated that she had not been there to be with him. Yeah, everything went fine, but what happened if it had not been that way? Godric had been very alerted during the meeting, as if he had been preparing himself for a fight. Prescott had been quiet, quieter than what he normally was. Was it because of Cooper or something else?

A strong hand pulled him inside and pressed him against the wall. Before James could do anything, the door was slammed. He wanted to call for help, when the sweet smell of vanilla reached his nose. Victoria. Her body was pressed hard against his. His tiredness was gone as fast as it had come.

"I don't have so much time," she whispered, sounded out of breath. And then she kissed him passionately. "I have to go," she said between her kisses. Either to herself or to him, James could not tell and frankly, he cared less. He pulled her closer. "Don't go," he said. "You have been away since the morning," he protested and kissed her at the same time. He himself almost did not understand what he was saying. "You can't just leave,"

"I know," she said.

James felt her soft hand under his t-shirt. He moaned as that soft hand entered his trousers, touching his dick, which got harder and pressed his trouser violently.

"You are a Hounder now," she said. She opened his trouser. "The leader of The Grey Hound, in fact,"

"How do you know that?" he wanted to move away from her but he was not able to. His back was against the wall and the hand on his dick did not let him go so easily. "I made Colin forget about it. It should be kept as a secret," his lust of having Victoria in his arm, on his body was gone. But Victoria did not give up so easily. Soon, she made him wanting her again, with her touch, her kisses. "I could hear everything you said, Silly. I was outside, on the wall, as a spider,"

"You have been here," His heart felt light warm. She had been there, the whole time. She had not left him. Nervously James' hand ran under her t-shirt. James could not see anything, the room was pitch dark, but he could tell that Victoria wore nothing but a t-shirt. Her naked legs had been touching his, driving his heart mad. He closed his eyes as his hands touched her breast. They were round and soft, and felt better, much better than he had imagined. Victoria moaned softly. James grinned. Victoria did not stop him, she even encouraged him to do something more, "Kiss them," she whispered.

James lifted the t-shirt; he was going to kiss the breasts, when suddenly he wanted to see them. He had to see them. He squeezed the breast with one hand, and the other hand carelessly searched for the switch.

"What are you doing?" Victoria was out of breath.

"I want to see you," he said. His hand crawled on the wall and as it touched the switch, a familiar voice was heard, as the owner knocked the door.

"James, open the door, please,"

Prescott.

James wanted to answer, but Victoria's hand was on his mouth.

"James, I know that you are not alone,"

Victoria whispered. "Ask him to leave," she kissed his neck. "Now..." she removed her hand.

"I can't, Prescott..."

"James, don't force me to breakdown the door,"

Softly, James pushed Victoria aside. Victoria held his hand. "Ask him to leave," she said again.

James nodded, and then he opened the door a little bit. "Please, Prescott," he said. "Only for tonight?"

"I am sorry, James," said Prescott.

"Please, Prescott?" he begged him. "I promise; it won't take long. Just give us some moment to be alone. Please..."

The eyes of the faery blinked. "An hour," he said. "No more and no less,"

"Thank you, Prescott,"

The faery turned around and walked away.

James closed the door and switched on the light. Victoria was sitting on the edge of the bed. She crossed her long slender legs. The white yellowish colour of the lamp gave her ivory skin a silky image. James knew those legs were soft and warm; nevertheless the lights seemed to enhance it. He knelt down in front of her. It would be his first time ever to be with a woman and he was glad, but at the same time nervous. He was going to do it with Victoria, a woman whom he loved and he was not sure what to do.

Victoria took his hands and put them on her legs. James' heart jumped wildly. Her legs were soft and smooth as if they were made of silk. "Come here," she said.

Slowly he followed the shape of her body, lifted her t-shirt and he could not take his eyes off her beautiful body. She was not only soft, but also curvy. He was going to lay her down on the bed, when Victoria stopped him.

"No, I can't do this," she said, abruptly stood up, kicking him to the floor. "I am sorry, James...I can't do this..."

"Why? I thought we were going to..."

She moved away from him, did not even take his reaching out hand. She shook her head. Tears fell on her cheek. "I am sorry...I can't do this...They make me..."

What? James stood up. "They? Who is 'they'?"

"I have to go...James..."

James caught her hand. "No, please...Vicky..." he pulled her near and wanted to kiss her when she pushed him away.

"I am sorry, James...about Duke..."

"Duke? What happened to Duke...?" Something hit James hard. He realized now that he had not seen his dog before, during and after the meeting. "Duke...come here boy..." he said, letting her go. "Don't listen to anybody, Boy...don't let anybody touch you, Boy...run!" he looked at Victoria. "What did you do to Duke?"

Victoria shook her head. "I am sorry..."

The conversation that he had heard as they were in the foxhole rang in his ears…_ I know somebody who would do anything for the boy, if he is really whom I heard he is…_one of the men had said. James felt his heart beating irregularly and fast. "No...it can't be true...no...You are not the one they meant..."

"I love you, James Northman-Stackhouse..." she came closer and kissed him. Her kiss was wet from the tears that she cried. Then she walked away, "Goodbye..."

"No..." James caught her hand. "I love you, Victoria...I can help you if you are in trouble...Let me help you..."

Victoria smiled frantically. "Goodbye..."

"No!" James tried to hold her hand more tightly, but Victoria shaped herself into a bird and flew through the window away. Her t-shirt was slowly floating down to the floor.

"Vicky!" James ran to the window, but Victoria was already shooting herself away into the darkness, leaving him behind, standing beside the window, feeling confused, angry, neglected and horny.


	40. The Present from Bill

**Author's Note: The copy rights of the Poem belongs to me. Dedicated to my beloved one, my lover.  
**

Chapter Thirty-Nine

**A Present from Bill  
**

Sookie woke up with a heavy head. She had had a weird dream last night. She had been on some kind of prairie and seen James running among the wolves. She called out his name, but James kept on running with the wolves. Then, a wolf broke free from the pack and ran towards her. He stopped some paces away from her and looked at her straight into the eyes. He was a big white greyish wolf that she could not remember if she had ever seen or not. The wolf came nearer, and then licked her hand. After that, he turned around and ran to James' direction.

Her heart became heavy. She never tried to interpret the meaning of a dream, and she did not really care about it, but somehow she knew, James had chosen to be a part of the werewolf packs. Possibly, the Grey Hound had accepted him too.

Eric was still sleeping. She looked at her watch. It was 11.20. It was not a wonder that Eric was still sleeping, possibly the other vampires too. She took time to watch him. His body was straight. The eyes and face, which she adored and loved, were now like a face of a dead man. It looked white and it did not move. Sookie swore, if she touched his chest, she would still be surprised or even shocked to know that nothing moved or made a sound under that black shirt. She knew that she was inside a room with a dead man, but she could not get that inside her head. She had seen him walking around, dancing, and speaking. She had also made love to him as he had made love to her. She had seen him crying, laughing, smiling, angry and sad. That man could not be dead, but he was; for as she lay her head on his chest, she did not hear the familiar sound under the black shirt. That cold body was silent, almost hollow.

Sookie sat for a while on the edge of the bed. Eric was in his catatonic position. He could not react to anything, let alone move. She tried to lift his hand and surprised to know how heavy it was, as if she had lifted a hand of a marble statue.

She took the gun from under the pillow. She had to have the gun with her. Eric was not in the condition to help her, if something happened, which she hoped with all her heart would not; she had to be able to protect herself! Sookie did not want to leave the room, but her hunger won. Her stomach made noises and demanded to be filled. She could drink the water from the tap the whole time, but it would not satisfy her hunger; and if she were weak because of hunger, she would not help herself or anybody at all. Carefully, she slipped her gun in her trousers. First, she had to call James. She had to know what was going on.

"Vicky..." His voice sounded as if he had just cried.

"Hi, Sweetheart," Sookie tried as cheerful as possible. James had mistaken her with Luna. Sookie believed he must have waited for her to call.

"Hi, Mom..."

"Is everything all right, Sweetie?"

"Not so really," he said. "I am kinda tired from last night, Mom. We stayed awake until late in the night for the celebration. I am a Hounder, now," James' voice became very low. "They are weird people, Mom,"

"Good weird or bad weird?"

"I don't know. Just weird, I guess; but they are very nice to me. Godric said, I had to be careful with them, even now"

"Godric is there?"

"Yeah, last night. But he's gone now...he said..." his voice started trailing. "He said he can't see me any more,"

"Oh, James..."

"Something about a vow, but he didn't exactly say what,"

Sookie did not know either. She remembered, as they had searched for Eric, and found out that werewolves had been involved in it, Godric kept distance from the werewolves. He must have given his promise to somebody long time ago.

"Did they harm you, ask you to do something that you didn't want?"

Sookie decided to change the subject. She could not stand to hear the sadness in his voice.

"No, Mom. They are

nice people, really,"

"When will you return?"

James did not answer straight away. His voice sounded as if he had been crying, when he said, "Colin said Cooper and the Twins would accompany me back to Bon Temps. He and Doc will stay longer. If we can't find Duke today..." he started sobbing. "I have to return to Bon Temps tomorrow..."

"Duke is gone?"

"He...is taken, Mom...Vick…Victoria has taken him and she doesn't tell me where..."

"Oh, Baby..."

James sniffed. "Can I...can I stay here a bit longer until Duke is found, Mom?"

Luna had taken Duke for a reason. The Grey Hound might have been a strong clan, but Sookie would feel more secure if James was here with them. Eric, Pam and Chow were here, as Alcide and his people. "I am sorry, Sweetie; but it's better if you are here. Your father can protect you better than the whole members of a werewolf clan,"

"Where are you now?"

"I am in Baton Rouge now. The King wants to see us – your father and I,"

"When will you return to Bon Temps?"

"I'll don't know, James. We have to wait for the result from the meeting tonight. I'll call you as soon as possible. All right?"

"All right. I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, Sweetie. Tell Colin, I say 'hi',"

"Okay. Bye, Mom!"

Sookie closed her phone and put it in her jeans pocket. How she wished that James had been here or in Bon Temps. Everything would have been easier. She knew she had to learn to trust the members of the Grey Hound clan, but her motherly instinct told her something had happened to James and James was not exactly open this time.

Her stomach made a loud noise. She had to eat something. She looked at Eric and shivered. Jesus! He looked like a corpse, white and stiff. The amber light in the room was not able to give him colour. In fact, he looked paler than ever. Sookie wanted to touch his shoulder and told herself that it was Eric, and not a corpse. However, she could not bring herself to it.

Slowly and carefully, she went out of the room. First, she thought that she should stay in the room, because somebody might come in and stake Eric, but then she realized that they were at the vampire palace. They must have calculated that risk and took a security measurement accordingly.

The kitchen of Sophie-Anne Leclreq's Palace was more or less the same size like Northman Mansion's kitchen. The vampires did not need to eat, the human employees did. Probably the vampires thought it was not necessary to build such a big kitchen because it was such a contradiction to see a small kitchen for such a big building. There must have been a lot of people living in this place, but since most of the people who lived here did not eat, the existence of a big kitchen was rudimentary.

In the kitchen, there was only a woman, a huge woman with arm size that reminded her to a sumo player. Sookie believed those arms could lift heavy anything in this kitchen easily.

_A fangbanger. _Sookie heard that big woman, who was cooking something in the pot said. _You see on; you see them all._

Sookie tried to put the best smile she ever had.

_This one looks worse. I bet she could not see the difference between salt and sugar if she sees one. Hmh, at least she looks like somebody who eats, not like all those skinny skanks they had brought here._

Well, that woman was not completely wrong. She could not cook and yes, she ate. She had to watch not to eat too much sugar or fat, since she was not young any more, but yeah, she ate.

"Hi, there," Sookie said.

"What do you want?" her voice was not friendly and she did not even try to be friendly. Her big brown eyes were like hawk's eyes watching her prey. At any second, Sookie imagined, she would jump on her and squeezed her to death.

The smell of chicken broth, shrimps, some spices, and okra reached her nose. Thanks to Eric that had given her his blood, her sense of smelling was somehow enhanced; otherwise, she would have had no idea at all what was boiling there. "Is that...Okra Stew?"

Out of the blue, that sour face changed. A wide smile was across her face. "Do you want to try, Miss?" her voice was suddenly friendly. _She might not be the same with the other fangbangers, after all._

"May I?" Sookie tried to be as desperate as possible; well, it was easy. She _was_ desperate to eat.

"Certainly, Miss!" that woman took a small bowl and pour a spoon of Okra stew into it. She also cut a slice of bread.

The conversation was easier afterwards. The woman whose name was Abigail was very satisfied when Sookie praised her food. Obviously, not so many vampires' companions were willing to go to the kitchen to taste her food, let alone to help her with the dishes, which Sookie was doing right now.

She told Sookie how long she had worked at the Palace. It was not so long, actually, she said. Around two months ago, she had started working there and cooking for the human guards and other human helpers. Sometimes, she stayed late for preparing the food for the party, but it was very rarely.

"I stay away from vampires' business, Miss," she said. "I would do the same if I were you. They could not be trusted. They were all nice and sweet until they needed our blood. I don't trust them, no Miss, none of them,"

"But you work here,"

"For the money, Miss. Somebody has to make a living,"

"You're right," Sookie said. She worked for the Queen for the last fifteen years too.

"I would stay away from the vampires, if I were you. Excuse my mouth, Miss. But a fine woman like yourself, should have a family and away from the Undead,"

"I have a family, Abigail. I have a son and a boyfriend," Sookie smiled. A 1000 year old boyfriend.

After finishing the dishes, Abigail made a pot of coffee for both of them. They sat at the big dark brown table, which looked as old as the kitchen itself.

Abigail's coffee was strong and delicious. The brown sugar that she put inside gave the coffee a special taste and aroma. As it had melted and changed into caramel, it turned the coffee into some kind of mocha.

"Why are you here, Miss?"

"To help a friend," said Sookie. The Queen's pale face flashed. "We believe, only the King of Arkansas can help us,"

"Queens and Kings, they call themselves," Abigail's voice sounded disgusted. "But they behave like any trash. None of them have the courtesy of a royalty," _Well, perhaps that one vampire. _Her head said. _What was his name again? Bill...Thompson...Cotton...ah, damn!_

Bill Compton. This woman knew Bill. Did she also know what had happened the Queen's guards chased the night André and Bill?

"Oh, damn! I did it again," Abigail closed her mouth with her hand. "I did it again. I should have learned to close my mouth,"

"Oh, don't worry, Abigail. I am not telling,"

"Thanks, Miss. I really need this job, you know. But sometimes, working for people you don't like is not easy,"

"Yeah, I know that," Sookie smiled. "I had worked with a vampire, once." Sookie tried to get information about Bill. "He was polite and very helpful. He reminded me a lot to my Grand Dad, you know, the way he spoke and all. It is very rarely to get to know a young man to have such an excellent manner,"

"Only, that they are not young any more,"

Sookie smiled. "You are right. But still...he is very courtly, reminds me to a Southern Gentleman from the past, like in movies...what was his name...eh...Bill..."she scratched her un-itchy head..."Bill...Cotton or Compton...Bill Compton, yes, Bill Compton,"

"Oh, I think I know that one," she said. "Do you know where he is, Miss? I haven't since her since..." she stopped dead. Her eyes were suddenly empty. Her face was blank.

"Abi?" Sookie tried to read her mind, but it was empty.

She shook her head. "What was I saying?"

She had been glamoured. It must have been a big thing that they needed to glamour her. "We were talking about Bill Compton. You said that you knew him. Does he live here?" Sookie continued pretending. "He said to me that he worked for the Queen, but he never told me where he lived,"

"He slept at the Palace from time to time," said Abigail. "I can show you where his room is," she said. "When he slept here, he always asked me to put some fresh lavender in his room. He said, his wife loved lavender; he felt much better to stay at this palace if his room smelt like his room in his old house,"

"I don't know that Bill had a wife," said Sookie, astonished.

"That's what he said, Miss. Perhaps she died already,"

Perhaps. She would ask Eric about it, later. Surely, Eric knew a part of Bill's past, if not even everything about Bill's past.

"Do you think I can see his room...now?"

Abigail pouted her mouth; which made her face rounder. Apparently, she was thinking that way. After a while, "Oh, what the heck. Come, I'll show you,"

Bill's room was on the different part of the building. It seemed to be that it was located on the opposite part from where Eric's room was. Just like Eric's, the room had two rooms and a bathroom. It had neither window nor vent holes. The difference was the room had a picture of sunrise and sunset.

Suddenly Sookie felt as if she had trespassed the very intimate part of Bill's life. It was clearly that Bill longed for the sun, but his condition made him impossible to reach his dreams. She wondered how Bill had been turned...had he been turned willingly or had he been simply snatched by Lorena and turned to a vampire?

The faint smell of lavender caught her nose. For a normal human nose, that smell would be ignored or unnoticed, but all her senses were very sharp for the moment, she could even distinct five different smells came from Abigail's body: onion, shrimp, her sweat, dish soap and cheap perfume. Sookie did not see any lavender in the living room. Abigail must have put it somewhere else. "You have done very nicely to the room, Abigail," she said. "If I meet Mr. Compton, I will tell him,"

Abigail smiled widely. "It was not entirely me, Miss. Oh, let me show you where I put the lavender," she took her hand and went inside the bedroom.

A twig of dry lavender, tied with a purple ribbon laid carefully on the pillow, a small gesture from Abigail, which gave the big dark brown bed a kind of romantic view. The curtain, which was hanging around the bed, was also tied with a purple ribbon. The mattress, which was clearly never been slept on for days, was covered with white bed cover and soft ivory sheet.

Sookie felt as if she had entered a room in a house in the Gone with the Wind movie.

"You like it, Miss?" asked Abigail.

"Yes, I do. You are such a romantic person, Abigail!"

Abigail blushed. "You're too kind, Miss Stackhouse,"

Sookie looked around the room. It looked like it was smaller than Eric's bedroom. Or was it the additional table at the corner made this room look smaller? Slowly she walked to the table and saw a book on the table. It was a book about Orchid. On its cover, it was standing FOR SOOKIE.

Was this the present Bill had mentioned as he was leaving Pam's house?

Sookie took the book and said to Abigail, "Abigail, it looks like Mr. Compton left this book for me," she said. She showed it to her. "My name is on it,"

Abigail looked suspicious, but when she looked at the book, she said, "You're one lucky lady, Miss Stackhouse. One lucky lady indeed,"

As Sookie returned to the room, Eric was still sleeping. Not wanting to wake him up, she sat carefully. Fondly, she looked at him. He looked so peaceful in his sleep and younger. There was no cold piercing blue eyes, no smirk, and not even a little movement that meant more than thousand words. Eric looked dead, but in a beautiful way.

Softly she opened the book. There was a poem on its first page written beautifully by Bill. She always envied his handwriting. It was so beautiful that it was difficult for her to concentrate on what was written. It was as if she had been looking at Van Gogh painting. The beauty and the passion that were shown and reflected by the colours that he had used made the other things on the painting have less meanings.

**_Your home, my love_**

_And as my own desires wished to be your company_

_I could not longer hold what was in me_

_My vow, oh dearest, was lay under the first flower_

_of a long and tiresome journey_

_to reach and was destined to be lost and stray_

_in a forgotten place called your home, _

_which was called my love by some, _

_and with a trembling hand of sorrow_

_you and I would see each other at the face of tomorrow._

Jesus! Sookie lifted her face away from the book. She never thought that Bill could write a poem! She wished she knew more about poems. Because honestly, she had to read it again to understand what Bill was trying to say. She continued reading it.

_To Sookie Stackhouse: When you read this book, I want you to think of our beloved friend, Aude Northman. _

_B.C._

What did Bill want to tell her? Was it love declaration, a complaint or some kind of puzzle that she had to solve?

She remembered the first and only flower that Bill had ever given her was a white orchid. The original plant had died long time ago but she managed to cultivate it and now its children were in the garden of her house. The pot itself was at her house in Bon Temps. Why did he mention Aude? Was there something about Aude that she did not know; or did he use the name to remind her about Aude? Bill did not need to remind her about that tricky little devil, as Eric had called her fondly. Aude Northman was another name for planning and puzzle. She would have not done anything without being planned or orchestrated carefully, like her meeting with Eric. Heh, even Eric had not realized that his wife had been trying to match him with her!

She put the book on the night desk. Bill seemed to have followed Aude's steps. What was wrong with everybody that had contacted with Aude? Why had that woman been able to influence anybody around her? Was it because she had lived together with the master of treachery himself, or was it because they thought that Aude had been such a wonderful person, a leader to follow.

And why she could not stop herself from being jealous? Aude was dead, really dead. She buried Aude herself. Aude would have not returned to claim Eric. Aude had given Eric to her when she had been still alive...why would she return from the dead to claim him back? Besides, she had given Eric a son...something that Aude had never been able to do...it had to mean something!

Sookie took a deep breath. The feeling that she had – this jealousy towards a dead person, was not healthy. Not healthy at all, if not even ridiculous and pathetic.

But she could not get rid off that feeling easily. That feeling was meaning to stay even when Eric woke up as soon as the sunset, that feeling still held her heart strongly. Eric did not say anything when he saw the book. Only his eyes were narrowing.

"It's from Bill," said Sookie. Oh, why did she have to tell him everything?

"May I?" He reached out his hand.

Sookie took the book and gave it to him.

Eric opened the first page, read the poem and gave it back to her. "Silly woman," he said. "You're still jealous with Little Devil,"

Sookie cursed Eric's blood that was in her. Like a loyal spy, he reported to his master whenever and whatever the master needed to know. She sat on the bed, refused to looked at him. She knew it was silly, she knew she should have thanked him and his blood, without him she would have not won Abigail's heart. But now, she could only curse him. She did not want Eric to know what she felt because it made her not only look, but also feel like a fool.

"Come here; let me show you how silly you are,"

"It's not the right time for having sex, Eric,"

"Who's talking about having sex?" he said. However, his eyes flickered and his fangs were bared.

Sookie put the book on the night desk and came to Eric.

With one pull, Eric lifted her and made her legs wrapping his hip. Sookie could feel his hard-on pushing her jeans.

"A woman like you does not come every day, Sookie," he said. "You are mine, as Aude was. You were mine during the time Aude was still alive, and you are still mine when she died. You will be mine long after she died. So pull yourself together and be mine now. I need you now more than ever. I don't want anybody else to fill your mind and body. You have to feel me inside you because it is very important at the court of the king that they sense that you belong to me; otherwise the king and the others will take advantage of your insecurity and turn you against me,"

Sookie put her arms around his neck. "I am sorry, Eric."

Eric touched her neck with his fangs. Sookie felt her blood running faster, rushing her heart to beat even faster. She did not refuse or say a word when Eric lay her down on the bed. His blue eyes were sparkling. His body was hard against hers. It was really not the right moment for them to have sex, again her head told her, but her body did not want to listen. When Eric undressed her, she knew how her body screamed for his. As they moved fast and in a hurry, Sookie could feel how like a hungry little boy Eric kissed her every part of her body greedily.

"I am damned and cursed," Sookie heard him saying between his kisses. "I am damned to meet you,"

Some minutes later – perhaps it was thirty minutes, perhaps even an hour later, Sookie found herself in Eric's arm, lying beside him, naked, sweating and satisfied. She felt her body light. The sweat that ran down on her body gave her coolness that she really needed. Eric's body was as cold as ice, but his touch, his firmness made her body feel like burning. Eric played with her hair. The vampire Viking seemed relaxed and a bit dreamy.

"It's a pity that I had never had you and Aude on the same bed," suddenly he said. "I was tempted to do it, but Aude said it would shock you,"

"What?" Sookie looked at him.

Eric smirked. "You remember when Aude was at the Leclreq Wellness Center and asked you to sleep over?"

"Yes,"

"I returned later in the night to make sure that everything was fine with Aude. Then, I saw both of you sleeping beside each other. Suddenly I wanted you, both of you. I thought it was because of your blood, but then I realized, it was more than that. I wanted to feel your body; I wanted to taste you. I lay myself behind Aude softly because I did not want to wake her up, but like always, she seemed to know when I was around her. She woke up and asked me what I was doing. I told her I wanted to sleep with her; I missed her. It had been a while that we did not have sex since you were at our place to be exact. She said I could not do that; you were there. I said I could sleep with both of you, if she allowed me to,"

Sookie's eyes were wider. Since she had been at their place? As far as she could remember, it had been a week or maximum ten days! And Eric had called it 'a while'? How often had they done it? Oh, she did not want to know, really!

However, she wanted to know what Aude had said. "What did she say?"

"She said I was out of my mind,"

Good answer.

"So I just laid down there and snuggled you both. Aude asked me to return tomorrow if I still wanted her, which I did. I realized, as I was there making love to her, I could not stop wanting you as well. Aude had not allowed the nurses to change the bed cover that day because she wanted to have your perfume and your body odour to linger on. She knew I would smell it, she knew it would make me want you more and more..." Eric snorted. "She was a devil,"

The memory came back to her like a strong wave rushing to the shore. She remembered having a dream; or what she had thought as a dream, somebody had whispered something in her ears. It had not been a dream; it had been Eric after all.

"You still made love to her...until the end...?"

"What do you think she was? She was old, yes, but it did not mean that she did not have...needs. I was her husband and I loved her. I had duty to fulfil, and one of them is to satisfy the needs of my wife." Eric looked at her. His eyes were flickering. "Do you think just because she was old, I would not want her any more? Or are you afraid that I will not want you any more when you are older and wrinkling?" Eric sounded pissed.

"No, of course not," Sookie touched his face. "You really loved her, didn't you?"

"Yes," he kissed her hand. "And I wanted her as much as I had wanted her in her younger days. Of course, we had not done it as often or as strong as before, but yes, we'd had sex as much as she could take me. One thing you have to know, nevertheless, I never wanted a woman the way I want you,"

Sookie moved closer and kissed him.

"You are the reason I want to continue living, Lover. Be proud,"

They made love once again, before they took a shower together. The warm water and the touch that Eric gave her made her feel light like a feather. She felt much better than before. Perhaps it was the sex, or perhaps it was the look on Eric's face as Sigebert came to tell them that the King wished to see them now. It was a mixed looks between confidence and alert that made Eric looked like a warrior, who was going to a battlefield.

Eric smiled at her and said, "Well, here goes nothing,"

She smiled back. _Yes, here goes nothing._

"Wait here for a moment," Eric said to Sigebert and her. He went back to the bedroom, when he returned, he had his silk jacket on. As Sookie put her arm around his hip, she touched something hard on his back. He had put something in his trousers.

The door that led to the Court of King Peter was opened.

"Sheriff Area 5 Shreveport - Lousiana, Eric Northman and Miss Sookie Stackhouse have arrived, Your Majesty, King Peter."


	41. On the Court of King Peter

Chapter Forty

**On the Court of King Peter  
**

King Peter was not as tall as Sookie had imagined him to be, or perhaps the golden carved chair, where he sat on, was too big for him that made him look as if the chair had swallowed him. There were around six or seven inches rest of the chair back above his head, it made him look like a dwarf. The heavy carving on the chair did not help him at all. Sookie did not know what kind of style that the throne had, but it looked really awful. And the bright yellow suit that the King wore made him more like one of the chair's ornament than a person. If those red haired head had not moved, Sookie swore that she had been watching a puppet instead of a man.

On The King's right was standing a woman with a smart look. Judging by the way she looked, dark navy blue suits, matched colour shoes and red hair, which was rolled behind her head, she could be a lawyer. On his left was André Paul. He smiled and nodded as he saw her. Four vampires were standing on each side. They must be the guards.

Sookie moved closer to Eric. She tried hard not to look around her. She heard some thoughts in the room, which meant there were some human; but the rest of them were pale faces, and those pale faces were looking at her with appetite in their eyes.

Eric bowed a little in front of the King. "Your Majesty," he said.

The King smiled. "Come closer, Sheriff,"

Eric nodded and then walked three steps forward. It seemed that they had some kind of rules not to be too close to the King because the vampire guards looked alerted.

"Is this the human you have mentioned, André?"

"Yes, Your Majesty,"

"The human should come forward," said the King, to whom, Sookie did not know.

All of sudden, Sookie liked Queen Sophie-Anne much better and she appreciated the way the Queen had treated her and James. As crazy as she could be sometimes, the Queen still knew how to win somebody's heart.

The woman walked to her and then circled her. Like a condor, which was watching her prey to die, she bared her fangs. "Miss Sookie Stackhouse," she said. Her voice was hissing like a snake. "I am Jennifer Carter, Your Majesty's secretary,"

_Yeah, right. _Sookie thought, but she forced herself to smile. "How do you do, Miss Carter?"

"Jennifer. May I, Sookie?" she gave Sookie her hand.

Sookie did not like the idea that they reached first name terms in such a short time, but obviously, she did not have any choice. She took that hand and walked with her. Different from Eric, she was allowed to be some steps away from the King.

The King looked at her from the head down to the toe. "Sookie Stackhouse, I heard your name many times," he smiled. Something in his face reminded her to Mr. Stewart, her former maths teacher in Elementary School. Mr. Stewart had some kind of creepiness that she could not stand. Mr. Stewart always thought about Ms. Labelle's ass, her English teacher. She always thought Ms. Labelle as a beautiful lady, obviously, she was not the only one.

Sookie was not sure if the King was thinking about anybody's ass for the moment, but that look was not much different from Mr. Stewart's. Those hazel eyes were narrowing and there was a light in them that made her skin crawl. They looked as if they were exploring each part of her body and looking for a way to get inside her pants.

"André, I have to say this time, you are right," he stepped down from his throne. "Miss Stackhouse, would you mind accompanying me to my chamber?" his white hand was reaching out.

Sookie bowed courtly. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Eric's face hard and pale, paler than normally. He was worried.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," said Sookie without lifting her face. "I came here with Sheriff Eric Northman, it would be considered impolite if I did not ask for his permission,"

Sookie felt his creepy eyes check on her.

"Are you afraid of me, Sookie?" asked the King.

"Should I, Your Majesty?"

The King laughed. His laughed was shrieked and high. The hair on her neck was standing. "Now I know why Her Majesty Sophie-Anne likes you. Come, Sookie. I promise I would return you to your sheriff before he noticed that you had gone,"

It was an order that Sookie knew she could not refuse. Reluctantly, she took his hand and followed him. Apparently, he wanted to be with her alone. He raised his other hand when Jennifer Carter wanted to follow them.

Sookie was relieved when she saw the chamber. It was some kind of a study room with a big table and a set of chairs. On the wall was a bookshelf, filled with books. They all looked old.

"I heard that the Sheriff's human wife was a book lover. Is it true?"

"Yes, Your Majesty,"

"Pity. I always like to get to know another book lover. What about you, Sookie? Are you also a book lover?"

"I read, but not as much as Aude Northman, Your Majesty,"

He asked her to sit. He took the chair behind the table. A black leather covered big chair, which swallowed him as soon as he sat on it. His head did not even reach the top, Sookie wondered why he had bought that chair at the first place. It made him look like a dwarf.

"I heard your name quite too often, Sookie, which to be honest quite intrigues me. You are not one of Her Majesty's girls, I suppose, but why did she mention you quite a lot and André Paul, he could not wait to be alone with you. Tell me, my dear Sookie, what did you have to offer?"

Honestly? She did not have anything to offer him. Even if she had, she would not offer anything to him.

"You're a lawyer, from what I heard, a good one too," he smiled. "But I am not convinced that your job as a lawyer that makes you irresistible," he put his hands together, making a triangle out of them. Click; his fangs were bared. "I smell Eric Northman on and in you," he said it in a-matter-of-fact voice. "And I smell something...woody. This smell," suddenly he raised his body. Sookie pulled herself backward. Her back was cold and wet when she felt the chair behind her. The King looked tall and menacing. "Bon Temps Woods...you're a part of Bon Temps Woods..." In a blink of an eye, the King was standing in front of her. "I could just take you as my companion..." his face was getting closer. Sookie felt numb. Her blood ran cold and her muscle was lame. If the King wanted to do harm, he would be able to do it. "...but, André Paul would do just fine, don't you agree, Sookie?" his eyes were straight into her eyes. The King was trying to glamour her.

What should she do now? Should she pretend that she could be glamoured or should she refuse the order?

His finger was reaching out to touch her face. With a huge effort, she managed to move away just right in time. A little bit longer, that finger would have been able to touch her face.

The King sneered. "You are good, Sookie. Is that why Sheriff Northman is all over you?" he moved some steps away. "Quite understandable," he said, whatever that meant. "Don't you like André Paul, Sookie?"

"He's fine," said Sookie, short.

"He is younger than Eric, I believe, but he is a loyal man. He is also clever; he knows when to change the path. Unlike Eric, he would do anything to fulfil his dreams,"

In her world, men like André Paul were called opportunists and cocksuckers, but Sookie chose not to say anything.

"He is also very good in bed, according to what Her Majesty said. You know that he is the only one that Her Majesty allows to keep her bed warm; I am talking about men, of course,"

"Of course," said Sookie.

"So, what are you saying, Sookie? Won't you take André?"

Sookie was slowly standing up. "What is it for you...Your Majesty?"

"Why do you think there would be something for me?"

"Your Majesty, a wise and thoughtful person like yourself..." Sookie swallowed her spit. _A wise and thoughtful my ass... _"must have thought about any matter, big or small, thoroughly. Perhaps I do not see the way you see things, Your Majesty, but I believe, André Paul would not come to you without reasons," Sookie remembered the Queen's reaction towards whatever the King had done at that morning when they were invited for breakfast. "Knowing how the Queen had considered Your and Her Majesty's relationship,"

The King hissed. "You knew," he said. His eyes flickered dangerously.

"Yes, Your Majesty," she lied. But she could guess, knowing that the Queen preferred women to men and hearing that André Paul was the only man who slept with her.

"What do you think about André Paul?"

"I don't know him well..."

The King raised his hand, cutting her sentence. "Just tell me what you think, Sookie,"

"André Paul is a loyal subject of the Queen, Your Majesty,"

"Even when I gave him his very wish?" he asked.

"And risk the danger of Eric Northman's anguish, Your Majesty? Is André Paul worth the problems?"

"Are you sure, Sookie, that Eric Northman would risk his position and wealth to protect a human like yourself?"

Sookie looked at him straight into the eyes.

"Don't you think," those eyes dangerously flickered. His voice was low. "That he would give you to me for a greater object?"

"Such as?" Sookie fought his stare. She ignored the cold feeling that crept on her back.

"Becoming my lieutenant, my right hand man, and Jennifer Carter as a bonus. She is a strong and beautiful vampire. You are nothing against her,"

_I gave him a son, something that Jennifer Carter is incapable of. And the woman that he loved or perhaps still loves, had chosen me. Something that Jennifer Carter can dream about only. Eric must have known that Carter for a long time, and if he wanted her, he would have her by now. Instead, he had just made love to me some minutes ago. He wants to make sure that every vampire in this room could smell him on and in me. He wants them to know that I am his. _

The thought gave her warm feeling and made her smiling. "Perhaps, Your Majesty," she said. "But are you yourself willing to take a chance the other possibility that perhaps I am everything against her, at least in front the Sheriff,"

A clear shot of calculation shone through from his eyes. Then, he smiled. "Now I understand Her Majesty's fascination on you. What about you, Sookie? Would you work for me, with or without André Paul as a bonus?"

"As young and beautiful as André Paul, he is nothing against Eric Northman, Your Majesty. At least in my eyes,"

"Loyal, I like loyal person," he said. "I hope for your own benefit, you would not be as loyal as this toward the Queen," Again, those eyes shot her with the calculating look, she had seen earlier. "You have to know on which direction the wind blows, Sookie. As far as I can see, it is not to the direction of the Queen. You must have known how sick she is at the moment. And as her husband, I have the rights to execute her power. But, I have to wait until the Council of Kings and Queens give me the rights. Her lieutenant and her trusted people have at least to have a good word about me. I don't have to worry about André, because he will do it as soon as I give him what his heart wishes. Her bodyguards, on the other hand, seem to listen to Sheriff...and he to you," he turned around. "I heard that your son is among the werewolves now. It's a very unfortunate event; I have to say, since werewolves are not exactly welcomed at my palace,"

Sookie froze. The King did not have to say what he wanted; it was clear enough for her. She pulled herself together to be as calm as possible. "Are you not concerned about Her Majesty, Your Majesty?"

"Of course I am," he said unconvincingly. "Why did you think I sent her to her clinic?"

"You sent her to the clinic?"

"Yes, I did," he smiled. "As soon as I heard from André that she ordered the twins to kill him, I knew that something was wrong,"

"And the human guards, the ones in silver suit?"

"What about them? We are open ourselves to human, we have to be ready to work with them,"

Sookie wanted to ask about the True Blood that the Queen had consumed, but she changed her mind. It would be better if she kept her mouth shut. The less the King knew what she knew, the better it was for her.

"Don't mind that matter too much, Sookie," continued the King. "You will make the right decision when the time comes," he reached out his hand. "Come, I believe the Sheriff starts to get...nervous. I hate to see a good sheriff like getting Eric nervous,"

Sookie got up slowly and took that hand.

The King kissed it. "Sookie Stackhouse, I think I can depend on you," he said, straightening his body. "It is very nice to know that we understood each other,"

Sookie forced herself to smile.

Eric's face was as cold as always when Sookie went out of the room. Behind him was Sigebert, his hands were formed into fists. André Paul was standing some paces away from them. Clearly, he looked tensed and afraid. His eyes searched for something, a way out – Sookie guessed, and smiled widely when he saw her and the King.

_Dream on, Boy. _Sookie thought annoyingly. _Dream on. _She walked towards Eric and grabbed his hand as soon as she stood beside him. Eric smiled at her faintly.

"Sheriff," said the King. "Would you like to accompany me having dinner?"

Eric turned his face to the King.

"Which one would you prefer, Sheriff. True Blood or fresh?"

Eric's hand suddenly became stronger. It squeezed her hand so tightly that Sookie swore it had broken. "Fresh, Your Majesty,"

The king laughed. "Come, my Sheriff. We don't want to let the food cold, do we?"

Eric nodded. He turned to Sookie. "Please, return to our room and stay there," he said. Then, he let her hand go and followed the King.

Back to their room, Sookie sat on the bed and opened the book from Bill. The book contained many Orchids pictures, some of them she had seen and some were completely new to her. Bill had given her Phalaenopsis Aprodhite or the Moon Orchid, the white elliptical shape Orchid. Normally, that kind of orchids had only five leaves, but the one which Bill had given, bloomed with more than five leaves most of the time. And the colour was bright white with faint yellow lips. Sookie flipped around the pages to see the white Phalaenopsis. She often wondered how Bill had found out that she liked Orchids. But she had been satisfied by telling herself that Bill was called as one of the best tracker not for nothing. He would find anything he wanted; even when other people said, it was impossible.

She wondered how he was now. She could only hope that that Lorena woman treated him kindly. She did not look like a woman who was willing to listen or to do something for somebody else for free.

Sookie found the page. She touched the picture of the Orchids. What a beautiful one! She read the article. She knew how to take care of the flowers; how to cut and all the things they wrote in the article, but she kept on reading it. It soothed her somehow.

_The first European who acknowledged the existence of Phalaenopsis Aprodhite was Georg Joseph Kamel (1661-1706). In his words, he described it as a dove..._

A dove….doves were Aude's bird.

Something struck her. Bill had not given her the book for nothing. He wanted to send her a message. But why now? Did it have something to do with the new True Blood and the werewolves? _Think, think, think. _Sookie told herself. _Think. _Bill was a careful and clever tracker. He would not leave his trails for everyone to see; assuming that he wanted to send her a message.

_When you read this book, think about our beloved friend, Aude Northman. _

That was his message. Aude Northman and now dove. It had definitely something to do with her. And Aude had loved puzzle. Sookie returned to the page where the poem was. She read it fast. _I could not longer hold what was in me, _Bill said. He knew something that he could not keep for himself any more. _My vow, oh dearest, was lay under the first flower _….his first flower was Moon Orchids. Perhaps it had something to do with the werewolves, perhaps not, but why did he used this connotation? Werewolves were deeply connected to the moon (at least what the movies said). _My vow..._His secret? The things that he wanted to say? …_ was lay under the first flower ..._Did he mean he put something under those flowers? But it had been fifteen years ago. The original flower had been dead already! She continued reading the next line. She was not sure about the meaning of the sentences, and then …. _in a forgotten place called your home … _Her home. Where was her home? Northman Mansion, the one in Baton Rouge or her old house? Was there something at that place, something that had something to do with werewolves' case?

Arrgh...Bill! Why didn't he just write them in a clear sentence? Why did everybody have to copy Aude Northman?

Tok, tok, tok!

Somebody was knocking at the door.

Sookie put down the book and went to the door. "Who is it?" she asked without opening it.

"It's me, Sookie. André,"

"Moment," she said, running to fetch her bag, took out her gun, and returned to the door. "What do you want?"

"We need to talk, ma chérie,"

"Don't ma fucking chérie me!" she said. "We don't have anything to say to each other,"

"You would be interested to hear what I wanted to say," he said. "It's about your son,"

Sookie's heart beat fast. James? What happened to James? How did André know about James? He was lying. He was certainly lying.

"I know you won't believe me, I can tell you what I know about James, but then the whole Palace would know, and you would not like it...so..."

Sookie put the gun under her blouse and opened the door.

André moved like a flash and the next thing she knew, she was pushed to the wall and André's body was only some inches away from hers. His nose was on her neck. "I said it only once," he whispered. Sookie's hand was searching for the gun. "Don't let him enter Bon Temps again. The King knows about him and he can sense wolf-blood in a distance. He hates wolf-blood,"

Sookie reached her gun and wanted to draw it, when André moved away from her.

"He can sense blood," André said. "That's his power. He can tell the maker of a vampire only by smelling the blood, that's why I told my child to stay in Eric's room when he had told me that there was another werewolf in the Palace,"

"You're a liar," Sookie draw her gun. "If the King could sense my son, he would have done it when he had been here,"

"Think, Sookie. Why hadn't he done anything before?" he looked at her gun. "Because my Judith was still strong enough to fight him," he played with his curly lock.

Sookie cocked the trigger. "You had sold your Judith to him, why should I believe you?"

"Oh, vous êtes très naïve, Sookie," he said. "You still have to learn a lot from Eric," he smiled, mockingly. "How do you think he would have accepted me, if I had not done that? And whose order do you think it was?"

Sookie looked at him. What did he mean? Had the Queen order him to get closed to the King? Had the Queen pretended that she had been sick so that André could move to the King's circle without being suspected?

What was going on here?

André moved closer. "Look at this palace, Sookie. This palace is filled with filthy human, loud and proud during the day, but behaved like the last slave during the night," his voice sounded disgusted – just like Eric's when he talked about shifters. "I want to have it back the way it used to be. I never could understand why she had to marry him, she never sleeps with him, never touches him, never even has the same ideas," his eyes looked dreamy. "She belongs to me, Sookie. And you will help me getting her back,"

"How?"

"Play along with him,"

"What do I get in return?"

"The secret about your son's identity would be kept secret,"

Sookie stared at those cold eyes. He meant it. He wanted to have the Queen – his Judith, back. "You don't know anything about my son," said Sookie.

"Do you really want to take that chance?" he smiled. "Just don't threaten me, Sookie."

"And don't threaten me, André." Sookie fought back his stare.

"So we understand each other,"

"Tell me what happened the night you ran to my place and I will consider your offer,"

"You knew what happened,"

"The truth, André. Or you can forget the whole thing,"

"The Queen went mad and she ordered my brothers to attack me. I had told you that. It was the truth,"

"Then why did we find silver in Bill's blood?"

As if he had just finished eating something, André wiped off his mouth. He murmured something in French. "He was too curious about everything, poor bastard. He took the bullets that were directed to the Queen," he moved away from Sookie. "It was dinner as usual," he said. "We were having fresh blood and the Queen took the True Blood. I started to get worried about her because she did not have any other food, but the True Blood. She was getting more and more out of control everyday. You know how she was. All her wishes had to be fulfilled and fast. The servants are afraid of her, more than normally. Because if they could not follow her order or perform the task as she wanted, they could be...harmed by the Queen. One of them was a woman, had been heavily injured two nights before the day of the incident. The Queen grabbed her and threw her at the wall and she had almost died because of it.

The dinner was as full with human in silver suit that time. It was unusual because normally the Queen would not wish to have any human in dining room, but these days, you never know what the Queen wishes. Then, as we were all high with the lust and the sense of the human blood that we drank, one of the human in suit shot the Queen. Thank to Bill, he reacted faster than any of us did, he jumped on the Queen and covered her body with his. The bullets that were aimed to the Queen landed in his body. At first, we thought that he shot normal gun, until we saw how fast Bill became pale greenish. It was not even a bullet that hit him. They were small needles with vials, which contained liquid silver. The liquid silver entered the body as soon as the needle went through the skin.

I jumped on the men and wanted to kill him for trying to kill the Queen, but the Queen stopped me. She wanted to know why the man had done it. The man said, the woman that the Queen had sent to the hospital was his wife. She was limped from neck downward because of the incident, and he wanted the Queen to pay it.

The Queen laughed only and ordered us to send the man out. She did not want to see him or to deal with him. "You're lucky, filthy human," she said. "I am having a good mood," But before we carried on her order, her cellphone rang. She picked it up and did not say a word. As soon as she closed her phone, she ordered Sigebert and Weybert to kill Bill and me.

That was the truth, Sookie. Somebody, somewhere is controlling the Queen. And I suspected it was the True Blood that caused it. Bill knew it too; I just can't figure it out how,"

Suddenly André was standing in front of her. Grabbing her hand and knelt down on his knees. "Help me, Sookie. And I'll help you,"

"How?"

"Marry me, in front of the vampire law. The King wants you and he wants me too. If we are together..."

"I think it's a bit too late, André," Eric's voice filled the room. He was leaning on the door fame. In his hand was two parts of Sookie knew as the parts of the marriage dagger. He put them together and threw it at her. Automatically, Sookie caught it. As she caught it, she heard the sound 'clack', the parts, which obviously was not completely assembled, now they sat on their part perfectly. Sookie looked at Eric, shockingly.

"She is my wife now," he said. "You should have moved faster,"

André was on his feet again. His fangs were bared and his eyes were wild. "You don't know what you have done, Northman,"

Eric hissed and with a blink of an eye, he had André on his neck, pushed him hard on the wall. The lamp was shaking and some decoration fell on the floor. "Never ever talk to me that way again," Eric growled. His fangs aimed at André's neck. Then, he smirked and let him go. "Consider yourself lucky, André Paul. You are the Queen's pet; otherwise you would meet the sun earlier than you had ever thought,"

André's pale face was paler. His fangs were still out, but Sookie could see fear in his eyes. "The King wants your son, Eric," he said. "You're a fool if you think that he wants you,"

"How do you know that James is Eric's son?" Sookie was shocked.

"There are things that I know that would tumble down your world, Sookie. You had made your choice," Then, before anybody could do anything, André had gone from the room.

What had he meant? Sookie felt her knees weak. Her head was heavy from the thought that she had just married Eric, without ceremony or taking a vow, just clack-clack, and that was it, and now James...

The room started turning, but before she fell to the floor, she felt two strong cold arms hold her.

"Give me your gun," Eric whispered and took her gun. Sookie did not refuse when Eric put her on the sofa and left her to go to the bathroom. He returned with a glass of water in his hand. "Drink this," he said. Sookie did what he said. "My wife..." he snorted. "Never thought I would do it again. Human!"

"I never had the idea of marrying a vampire either," said Sookie. Especially, not that way.

"We have great sex, that's a good start,"

Sookie put the glass on the table. "And a great son,"

Eric smirked.

"Why did you do that, Eric?"

"That's the only way to save you from André," he said. "The King expressed clearly that he wants André to be your husband,"

"What? I thought, our conversation..."

"Whatever you had promised him, I refused it," Eric said. "I would not fight against my own Queen,"

"André said, the King could tell who James really is from sensing his blood. Eric...I am afraid..." Sookie held Eric tight. "I am afraid that he might harm James..."

Eric's claws were buried on her back. It was painful, but Sookie did not say anything. "We have to leave, Sookie," he said. "The King would not take easily of what I had said,"

"Where are we going to go? It's..." Sookie looked at her watch. The small needles showed her that it was 02.35. "We can't go to Bon Temps or Shreveport," Sookie knew that Eric could fly, but she was too afraid to fly now.

A soft kiss landed on her head. "It's about the time you show me where you spent your life without me for the last fifteen years,"

Sookie looked at him. "You mean we go to my house here, in Baton Rouge?"

"Yes, Lover."

In a hurry, they left the Palace. Eric put the gun and the marriage dagger in her bag, grabbed her hand and almost ran, he took her out of the Palace. Sigebert followed them with an alerted gesture. His big tall figure looked intimidating as Sookie caught his reflection on the mirror. His red haired was plaited and there was something in his movement that reminded Sookie to warriors. His arms were bent and his hands were in fist forms.

Jennifer Carter was in front of the door that led them to upstairs. She crossed her hand in front of her chest. "Eric, I thought we would some time together," she said.

"It's an honour, Jennifer," Eric said. "But you know, we never spent the time together and we would never do it,"

"What an unfortunate circumstances,"

"Yes...for you," Eric's eyes were flickering. "It would be more unfortunate if you decided to ask it now,"

Jennifer hissed.

"I would not even try, Carter," said Sigebert. His thick accented German voice was growling.

Sookie's skin crawled. The hair on her neck was standing and she felt something cold crawled on her back. Her hand in Eric's hand felt colder than Eric's. She wanted to leave the palace, she wanted to leave it now.

Jennifer looked pissed as she stepped away from the door. "What should I tell the King?"

"My Queen has called me," Eric said. "I must obey,"

"It would be unfortunate, Eric. For you,"

Eric did not say anything. He continued walking, dragging her along.

"Your human is not worth your sacrifice, Eric. You still have time to consider!" Jennifer said loudly. "Denounce the marriage!"

"What is she talking about?" asked Sookie as she tried to keep pace with Eric.

"I have the time until the next morning to cancel the marriage,"

"You mean tomorrow morning?"

"No, the next morning. This night is almost over, I still have one more night to cancel the marriage," He turned to Sigebert, said something in German and then said to her, "We have to be fast. I don't have so much time any more,"

Some minutes later, Sookie found out that Sigebert was asked to take one of the Queen's cars and drove it very fast to her place. The car was a convertible red Thunderbird from 1960s. "My choice," Sigebert said. "I love this car,"

Sookie thought Sigebert would have chosen Mercedes or something German, but obviously, she was mistaken.

"Do you have a cellar?" Eric asked.

"Yes," Sookie said. And a space on the floor beside James' bed. Sookie put a heavy box on it now. It had been a place, where Godric slept when he visited James; a space with no possibility for light to enter. Godric had asked her to build it for him when James was around five years old. It had been a rough time for both James and her. James could not sleep. He told her that he heard noises in the night; noises about man and woman talking about eating, drinking blood. Sometimes he screamed in the middle of the night because he heard a voice of somebody wanted to kill. It must have been the time, when James started to understand what he had heard. Sookie remembered, it had been the time when Godric started to appear in front of her office or her house again, begging her to be let in. He could help James, he said. And he had. James had slept better afterwards. He did not hear the noises any more, he said. Godric must have told him to tell her that or he had managed to teach James how to block his head from the noises. Just like her, James heard noises all of his life, except, he heard the noises of the Undeads.

Eric stood in front of the door. On his face was an expression Sookie had never seen before. It was a mixture between smiling and crying. "So, this is where he grew up," he said. He looked around. "Orchids. Just like in Bon Temps. I like the porch of your Bon Temps house." Then, he smirked. "Do you also have your funny movies here?"

He still remembered.

As shocking as it was, Sookie realized, Eric had lost fifteen years of his life. The things that happened between him and her in the old house in Bon Temps was only about 'two months' ago in Eric's view. His last night of being a vampire, when he had become her lover, made love to her like a lover should.

Sookie invited Eric and Sigebert in. She showed Sigebert the cellar and then took Eric to James' room.

Eric entered the room with a strange light in his eyes. "My son," he said. "My son's room,"

Just like any other teenagers', James' room was a disaster. The bed was not made, on the table were books, CDs and god knows what. On the wall, there were big posters of a soccer team, which name Sookie never heard of, and a poster of a man named Hakån Hellström. Sookie was never able to say his name. She tried and James taught her over and over again, but she still could not nail it. Once she had asked James, why he had the poster of the man on the wall? James said, Godric had told him about somebody whom he knew who liked Hellström very much and James listened to some of his songs and he liked him too. Only later on Sookie understood who that person had been. It was Eric. Godric wanted James to get to know Eric bit by bit and one of the ways was introducing the music that Eric had liked.

Eric turned to her. Two small red lines were running down from his eyes. "My son..."

Sookie wrapped her hands around his hips. "He is a good boy, Eric," said Sookie. "He never gave me any problems,"

"And he will never," said Eric. "He might have chosen a different way from ours, but he will never be a burden for me,"

Sookie wiped off the blood tears. She tiptoed to kiss his cheek. "Try to sleep now. Tomorrow, we could talk again,"

"Stay with me," he said. "Sleep in this room,"

Sookie nodded. "Yes, Lover," she smiled. "I'll stay with you,"


	42. Of Marriage and Puzzle

Chapter forty-one

**Of Marriage and Puzzle**

The marriage dagger was gleaming under the morning sun. Its red and blue eyes shone brightly and created little diamond shapes on the wall.

Sookie did not dare to touch it. She had wanted it, but every time her fingers had been some inches away from it, she pulled them back.

She was married now. She did not know how it was in the vampire world, but it seemed her marriage was legitimate. She had put together the part of the knife, accidentally, and she had become Mrs. Northman.

Sookie swallowed her coffee. In her imagination, if she had a chance to get married, she wanted to have the ceremony fast and simple. Yeah, the marriage last night had been simple. She did not want to be married in the church, no flower, no maid of honour, or any other confusing and stress making marriage arrangement. Perhaps, she would invite Jason, Lafayette, Joseph and Sam only. A quiet and simple marriage ceremony. One could say that her wish had come true, yeah, but she never had wanted to be _that _simple.

What should she do now? Could she separate the dagger and denounce the marriage, just like what Aude had done? No, Eric would be very angry if she did that. She remembered how Eric cried when he found out that Aude had broken the dagger without telling him. She did not want to cause Eric such pain again.

But would she be willing to take the risk, bonded to him to death?

She had been through that kind of bondage once, when Eric had been going through the transformation. It had been painful and she would have died, if Godric had not been strong enough.

Mrs. Eric Northman...she looked at the dagger. Now she was Mrs. Northman; shouldn't she be happy about it?

Mrs. Sinclair came with a bag full of food. Mrs. Sinclair was the woman whom she asked to take care of her house meanwhile James and she were not there. She had been working for her since ten years ago. She was a big strong woman and very reliable. With her, Sookie did not to be worried about her house or her Orchids. Mrs. Sinclair would make sure everything would be fine.

Mrs. Sinclair had been surprised to find her on James' bed. The door was open, Mrs. Sinclair said. She swore she had closed it the last time she had cleaned the house and was about to call the police when she saw her legs.

"How long will you stay here, Miss Sookie?"

"Only for today, Mrs. Sinclair. I have to return to Bon Temps tomorrow,"

Mrs. Sinclair looked at the dagger. "What is that for a knife, Miss Sookie? It looks old,"

"It is old, Mrs. Sinclair," said Sookie.

"Does it belong to one of your client? Ah, Miss Sookie, you are much too much into all those old things. You're still young, Miss Sookie. Perhaps it is not a bad idea to change your job and find one which will make you get to know with younger things. It is not good for your soul,"

Mrs. Sinclair would get shocked if she had known that there were a 1000-year-old soul sleeping under the box in James' room and possibly a 600-year-old soul sleeping in the cellar. Sookie did not know how old the dagger was, but she was sure it was younger than Eric or Sigebert.

Her mobile phone rang. Sookie picked it up. It was Alcide.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"At home," she said.

"In Bon Temps?"

"No, in Baton Rouge still,"

"You're not at the palace any more?"

"No, we left the palace last night,"

"Stay put," he said. "I come to pick you up,"

"Alcide..." She looked at the dagger and decided to tell Alcide what happened. André knew that James was Eric's son, the King did not like werewolves – if he ever managed to be the King of Louisiana, James' life would be in danger, and now the marriage. She still had to wait until tonight what Eric would decide, but it would be better if Alcide knew it now. "...there is something that I have to tell you,"

"Tell me when I get there. Stay put,"

Clack. The phone was off.

Alcide sounded worried. It was for a good reason, Sookie supposed. She was practically alone in Baton Rouge. Eric was sleeping so were the rest of the vampires; but the human or any other supernatural creatures were not. The King could send somebody to her house to cause her some problems.

She looked at Mrs. Sinclair. It would be better if she sent her home, as soon as possible.

"Miss Dušana-Aurora called," Mrs. Sinclair said whilst she was putting the groceries on their places. "She is in Baton Rouge already,"

Dušana-Aurora was here, that could mean Godric was here too.

"Did she say anything else?"

"She wanted me to tell you that she wanted to visit you, if you were here at home. How did she know that you would come?"

Godric was here. He could sense Eric by miles! He must have told her.

"Is she still with James' friend?" asked Mrs. Sinclair. She met Godric once or twice, and she did not like to see Dušana-Aurora with him. For her, their relationship was not good for James. They might give him the idea to involved in a relationship which had such a gap in their ages. Sookie sighed. James was in love with Luna, a woman who was ten years older than him! James could have taken Godric as the example, since he had never had a father figure at home, including in having relationship. But Godric only looked young. He was as old as dirt!

"I never understand what Miss Dušana-Aurora sees in that boy. He is pale, skinny and clingy. I can't stand the way he looks at her, it is as if he only had one thing in his head,"

Oh, Godric only had one thing in his head for sure, just like Eric.

"Well, I can't understand the world any more. Vampires, true blood, crazy relationship...it's too much for people in my age..."

Vampires...had Mrs. Sinclair ever seen Bill around this house? She decided to ask.

"Oh, I always try to finish my job here before the sunset, Miss. Sookie. You know, just in case I meet vampires...wait a minute..."

Sookie's eyebrow was lifted.

"Somebody gave something to me around a week ago...I don't know why I always put it in my wallet...and every time I leave my home, I always check it like crazy...to make sure that it is always with me...like somebody has told me to do that..."

Glamoured. She was glamoured...by Bill?

"Ah, here it is!" she said, taking something out of her bag. It was an envelope. "I never open it, Miss Sookie," she said.

Sookie smiled. "I trust you, Mrs. Sinclair,"

Mrs. Sinclair gave her the envelope, smiling. "I know you do, Miss Sookie,"

The envelope contained a piece of paper with a picture of dove and a familiar handwriting on it.

_If you need anything, call me. 0234-71356 or at 32445-93156_

Sookie picked up her mobile phone and tried to call the numbers. But both of the numbers had the same answer: _There is no connection under this number. _Tut,tut, tut.

Sookie sighed. Bill, Bill. Why did he have to have so many puzzles?

"I am glad that I gave it to you, Miss Sookie. I am free now," said Mrs. Sinclair, and then she continued working as if nothing had happened.

Long after Mrs. Sinclair had gone home, and the sky started getting dark from the black cloud on the west that covered the sun, which was getting down, Alcide knocked down her door. The lack of sleep and the problems that had happened around his life made him looked tired and old, much older.

"I am glad you're safe," he said as he sat down in the living room. "Sam and I had a thought to come here and wait for you in front of the palace, but Norris thought it was not a good idea," Alcide looked around. "Eric is here," It was not a question; it was a statement.

"Yes, he is. And Sigebert too,"

"Where are they? In the cellar?" He stood up. "It is very dangerous to keep vampires in your house, Sookie,"

"I know," said Sookie. "But it was the nearest and the only place we could find,"

Alcide sat down. "Did James call you?"

Sookie nodded.

"The Council of the Clans wants to see him," he said. His voice did not sound amazed. "Tomorrow he has to face them...I am sorry, Sookie. I did not think about it when I took him as my son..." he took a deep breath. "Stupid me..."

"He is a Hounder now," said Sookie, with the same un-amazed voice. "I don't even know what happened back there in Running Creek,"

"Jack told me the same thing," said Alcide. "He said, James was collapsed twice or three times," he looked nervous. "He also said, something happened, but he did not remember what it was. It had something to do with James and Colin...but he did not remember anything about it, neither did Colin,"

"What?"

Alcide looked troubled. "I've never heard that a werewolf could be glamoured until now," he said. "Godric was there. Do you think he is able to glamour them?"

Godric was a very old vampire. Sookie did not know what he was capable of, but to be honest, she couldn't imagine that Godric was able to do such a thing.

"Did you hear anything about Duke? James said that Luna had taken it,"

Alcide shook his head. "James did not say much when I called him. He sounded depressed,"

Ah, poor boy...

Slowly the sun was disappeared and the night came abruptly as if it could not wait to cover the face of the earth with darkness.

Suddenly Alcide pulled Sookie and before she could protest, Alcide spread his arm and made a ready to attack position. Behind them was Sigebert. His fangs were out and he was growling when he said, "A werewolf,"

"Sigebert," Sookie touched Alcide's arm. "This is Alcide Herveaux," she said. "He is a friend and he works for Eric,"

Sigebert's fangs sunk. "Forgive me," he said. "I did not know you,"

Alcide's gesture was relaxing. "None taken,"

"It's part of my duty to protect Sheriff's wife now..."

Alcide's face was pale. His jaw dropped. "What?"

"It's part of my duty to protect Sheriff's wife..."

"Yeah, yeah, I heard that," he turned to Sookie. "Wife? You and Eric...?"

Sookie went to the kitchen and took the dagger. "It was necessary, Alcide. The only way to prevent André from marrying me,"

Alcide took the dagger. "Break it. Now. It's not yet too late. You have to break it,"

"It's all up to her, isn't it?" Eric's voice filled the room. He was leaning on the door frame. His hands crossed on his chest. "And up to me. I am the one who took the vow to bind myself with her; I am the one whose vow will be considered in front of the vampire community,"

Alcide reached out the dagger to Eric. "If you love her, the way I love her, break it, Eric. It's not too late yet. The bond is not yet formed, so please, for her Eric, break it,"

Sookie never heard Alcide begging. She had never seen Alcide crying either. Nevertheless, today she witnessed both. His voice was trembling and his hairy face was wet from tears.

Eric took the dagger. "You might not believe me, Alcide. But I choose to bind myself with Sookie because I wanted to protect her from danger. If I had not done it, André Paul would have been her husband now. I might not love her the way you love her, but you know me better than anybody in this room does. I never break my promise. I don't promise often, but the one I gave, I kept,"

"You put her in a great danger, Eric."

"And she puts me in a great danger with her mortality," Eric looked at her with a smirk on his face. "And I kinda like it,"

_I definitely married the wrong person. _Sookie thought. Eric's eyes were flickering with lust. He looked like a little boy who was excited because of the thought of playing his favourite game.

"What are you going to do now?"

"Honey moon wouldn't be a bad idea," said Eric. "But I think it is none of your business,"

Alcide stepped back, defeated. "Very well," he said with a low voice. His hands were shaking and the hair, which had covered him, disappeared. He looked shaken. "James will be brought to the Square Stone. Shall I or would you go there? We both are his father according to the werewolves' rules."

Eric's eyes were narrowing.

"What are you saying, Alcide?" asked Sookie. "The Grey Hound know..."

"I don't know about that," said Alcide. "Jack was not at the meeting. He had been taken away from the Meeting place so that he could not hear anything. I am telling you what I know from my clan's rules,"

"You can come, Alcide," said Eric. "I prefer to stay here and watch over the Queen. Besides, the werewolves will be kinder to James if you are there,"

"Godric can come," said Sookie. "He promised that he would look after him,"

Eric sniffed. "I'll ask him,"

"The Sheriff of Dallas is here?" asked Sigebert. "We would be in a better situation if he was willing to help,"

Eric took out his mobile phone. Soon, he was talking in his Old Norse.

"The Norrises will accompany you going to Square Stone," said Alcide. "I was thinking about leaving as soon as possible, you know, to avoid the night. But now, I am not sure any more. It will be better if you stay with Eric as close as possible. He is your shield now,"

Sookie touched Alcide's hand. "I am sorry, Alcide,"

"Hey," he smiled. "You're happy with him, aren't you?"

Sookie smiled. Happy? She did not know. Her time with him was not enough to tell if she was happy with him or not. She felt...complete. It was as if the missing part of her life had been found.

"As long as you're happy with him..." he shrugged. "I'll leave you alone,'

"Thanks, Alcide.'

Eric closed his phone. "He is here," he said. "But he's busy. That witch doesn't let him go, apparently," his voice sounded annoyed.

_That witch doesn't let him go? _Sookie smiled. _Godric was the one who was all over her, for sure._

"He said to me, I know the answer, then he closed the phone," now it was not only his voice which was annoyed, he looked annoyed as well. "I told him not to get involve with her, but he didn't want to listen,"

"What about the Queen?" asked Sigebert.

"She is still the same condition," said Alcide.

"I know," said Sigebert. "I can sense it. I meant, if Godric was willing to help or not?"

"He is under the rule of the King of Kansas," Eric said. "He can't do much and he came here for personal matter. The King would not be pleased if he interfered in this matter,"

Sigebert growled. "I would twist the King's neck with my bare hands if the Queen let me,"

Eric shot him with a sharp look. "Had the Queen ever wished it?"

Sigebert put his hands on his hips. Clearly, it showed that he was thinking. After awhile, "I can't answer that. The Queen's order,"

"Understood," said Eric.

Somehow, Sookie doubted it. She could see how Eric's jaws clenched. He was suspecting something, but he did not say it. She wished James had been here; surely, he would have known what both of them were thinking for the moment.

"What is your decision, Eric?" asked Alcide. "Would you let Sookie come with me to Square Stone...?"

"Stop right there," said Sookie. "I might be his wife, but I still can speak for myself,"

Alcide's face was red. "I am sorry, Sook. I assume you know vampire's rules..."

"What? That the human companion has nothing to say? Is that true, Eric?"

Eric lifted his eyebrow.

"Don't tell me that Aude do whatever you said..."

Eric snorted. "You knew her better than that,"

"Good, because don't expect me to do less,"

Sigebert sneered. "You and your choices, Northman. I will never understand them,"

"You don't know what you have missed, Sigebert..."

Sigebert laughed. It sounded deep and warm. He said something in German, which was answered with a smirk by Eric.

"You and your Goth women couldn't be compared with Aude Northman," he said proudly. "Or Sookie Stackhouse-Northman,"

Sookie felt warm inside. Perhaps it was the sound of Eric's voice when he said it, perhaps it was the way he called her name, or perhaps it was the new name that he had just given her, she did not know. Whatever it was, she liked it. "Sookie Stackhouse would be just fine, thank you," she said, trying to deny her feeling.

Eric looked at her with a lust in his eyes. "You see what I meant, Sigebert?"

Sigebert laughed again.

These two were like men from wild tribes, which everything was about conquering something or somebody...on second thought, they were. Eric had been a Viking and Sigebert had been a Goth.

Alcide cleared his throat. "What do you think, Sook?"

"I want to go to Square Stones. I have missed his time with Colin's people, I don't want to miss another,"

"So be it," said Eric, which made Alcide look disappointed.

"Colin wants us to gather somewhere before we go to Square Stone," said Alcide. "I think the best thing would be at his place. Running Creek is not that far from Square Stone,"

"You and your friends out there can go to Beaumont with car," Eric said. "I go with Sookie, flying,"

"As you wish, Eric," said Alcide.

"Friends? What friends?" asked Sookie.

"The Norrises are waiting for me in the car," said Alcide, looking at Eric. "How do you know?"

Eric smirked. "You smell like a zoo,"

Alcide hissed.

"If you don't need me, Eric, I would like to return to the Queen," said Sigebert.

Eric nodded. "Don't let André Paul enter the building in any circumstances," he said.

"I won't, Sheriff. Unless my Queen tells me otherwise,"

The wind below her feet was not so strong and so cold like before, as Eric slowly 'dove'. He seemed to have known where they were heading because as they touched the ground, Sookie could see some lights from down below. The lights that clearly could be identified as housing lights.

"The Grey Hound," said Eric. "A strange group of people they are,"

"That's what James said too," said Sookie, catching her breaths. "Have you known them?"

"We met, several times,"

Sookie could not see his face, but his voice sounded excited. What did he mean with 'we met'? She could imagine that Eric had had some kind of previous grudges to the werewolves, but this kind of excitement was somehow strange. He sounded like a little boy who was about to play his favourite game. In Eric's case, perhaps it was a fight or two.

His cold arms surrounded her. "Come, James is waiting for us," he said.

Sookie touched those arms. Eric had been communicating with James via his thought. "Did you tell him that we are husband and wife now?"

Eric's body felt stiff. "That's what he wants, isn't it?" he said.

"Somehow, yeah." she put her head on his chest. "Is that what you want?"

"I want to be with you, to have sex with you, and I don't care why," his voice was growling. His body told her exactly what he wanted right now. "Do you want me?"

Sookie touched his face, and even when he did not see it, she smiled. "Yes,"

"That's good enough,"

"For what?"

"For calling you my wife,"

Sookie sneered. "Just like that,"

"Yes, just like that. You are already mine and if you want me to be yours, then you are my woman as I am your man,"

Sookie needed some time to understand the words that Eric used. He had been a Viking, perhaps that was the way his people had taught him how to treat a woman. It sounded primal, so primitive that the owning itself became essential, no paper or other authority that declared them as the possession of the other, but they themselves.

"Yes, Eric. I am yours as you are mine,"

Eric turned her body around and lifted her. Soon, Sookie felt Eric put her against a trunk of a tree. His fangs touched her lips roughly, as he kissed her. She felt his hand entering her blouse...but then, he stopped. "No," his voice growled. "Not here..." he said as if he had been telling himself to stop. "You deserve a marriage bed," Softly he put her down.

Her body trembled, mixed of lust and warm feeling that suddenly overwhelmed her. Had he said 'a marriage bed'? Was there such a thing as a marriage bed? What did that mean? A bed, where he and she slept on, had sex and died? Hadn't they already had one - minus the 'died' part?

"Not on a tree, in a forest somewhere..." his cold hand caressed her face.

"Our wedding night, on a tree in a forest somewhere..." said Sookie..."That sounds romantic,"

Eric kissed her. His fangs touched her lips and she felt as if a knife had cut them, but she did not complain and when his lips slowly trailed on her cheek and stopped on her neck and bit her. She held him tightly as she felt how strong and greedy he was, sucking her blood. After a while, he stopped. Sookie heard "cess" like a hot iron was dipped into cold water.

"Drink it," said Eric. "Drink my blood. You will need it,"

Sookie did what Eric said. Meanwhile she was drinking it; Eric sucked her neck again. After a while, they let each other go. Eric took her hand.

"Come," he said. "Let see our son,"

Sookie felt again the wind blowing strongly under her feet and the next she knew was a big gate made of iron. Behind the gate were several men. They did not stand on one line but more like layers they stood behind each other, filling the gap. Their eyes were yellowish and flickering. Some of them had fur covering their hands and faces.

"Godric's son," Sookie heard the familiar voice of the faery. "I never expected you to come,"

Eric smirked. The rest of the blood at the corner of his mouth made him looked sinister. "Prescott," he acknowledged the faery. "Thank you for being here,"

The faery nodded. His eyes flickering.

Sookie had really seen Prescott look that way. He looked angry. Was it the blood at the corner of Eric's mouth, or was it the wounds on her neck? Instinctively, she touched her neck. No, the wound has gone. Eric's blood must have healed it already.

"Sheriff," Colin's figure emerged from behind the lines of men. He looked at Eric's mouth and sniffed. It was clear that Colin tried to control himself. The grey hair was slowly covering his hand. It must have been difficult for the werewolves to ignore the smell of the blood, but until now, it seemed that they were capable to put themselves under control. "Welcome," he said. Beside him was James. His eyes looked puffy, but he smiled.

Eric and James looked at each other. Eric did not smile, but sniffed. He must have said something in his head, because James' smile was getting wider.

"Come in," Colin said.

Eric walked in.

_You broke the charm, Colin. _One of the men said in his head. _The Elders will not like it._

They followed Colin and James, who led them to a big building. James said it's some kind of meeting place. The room was empty. Colin asked them to come in. James closed the door behind them.

"Alcide will come," said Sookie after they had sat down. "He and the Norrises,"

"Who are the Norrises?"

"People from Hotshot," said Sookie. "They work for me, don't worry,"

"I don't think that you would need protection, whilst you are with us, Sookie," said Colin. "You are family now,"

"Thank you, Colin. But I prefer to have them," said Sookie. "So, how will you make it? If James has to go to Square Stone tomorrow, I want to be sure that you are all prepared,"

"James would be introduced to all clans, like other young werewolves. To tell them to whom he belongs to,"

"But James is not a werewolf," said Sookie.

"No, he is not," said Colin. "He is the son of a werewolf..." he looked at Eric. "and of a vampire,"

Eric's eyes were narrowing. "Who else knew?"

"We do," said Colin, "We – as the whole pack,"

"You have nothing against it? You – as the whole pack,"

"It was fifty-fifty,"

Eric's eyes flickered dangerously.

"It's okay, Papa," said James. "I have to take a chance. I don't want to hide my real identity forever,"

Eric's head moved like a snake.

"We took a vow not to tell," said Colin. His face was hard. Sookie noticed his canine teeth were bigger than normally. Apparently, he was cautious against Eric's reaction.

"What is the value of your vow?" asked Eric.

"As high as I value the life of my niece," said Colin.

"What are you going to do tomorrow at the Gathering?"

"The other clans have to know how important it is to get the one who are or is responsible for the poisoning and the murdering of our people," said Colin. "We have to know who the vampire was, who told Rodney about it. I have a strong feeling, this vampire knows more than what he said. And I want to know what it is,"

"Do you think that they will care?" asked Eric. "Your people had long history of secluding. You don't care about other clan, as long as your own clan is well-fed and protected. You are ignorant and apathetic about the concern of others. The needs of the pack, above everything else. And now, suddenly you think that others would do differently?"

"What are you trying to do, Sheriff? Are you trying to put salt on the flesh that already wounded. What we have done is wrong, but it is not too late, yet. We have your son now. He is young and coming from different world, from different blood. He can help us,"

From the corner of her eyes, Sookie could see James making himself smaller. She could tell that he did not like the idea at all.

Suddenly, Eric turned to James. "Don't put everything on his shoulder," he said. "Yes, he is my son and I trust him to be able to do the task, but he is new to your world,"

"You can teach him, Sheriff. You know our world well enough,"

Eric did not react.

"And you return from the Death,"

Any man or vampire would have showed pride or victory when they had heard that, but not Eric. His face was as hard and cold as before. Sookie failed to guess what was going on under that beautiful blond hair. From the corner of her eyes, she saw James grinning, but that grin was disappeared as soon as Eric's eyes met his.

"I don't have so much time," Eric said. "I need to have a word with my son,"

Colin got up. "I'll leave you folks alone,"

The hall became quiet. The neon lights in the room gave a cold atmosphere that slowly crept on Sookie's skin. Eric and James were talking in Old Norse. She wanted to protest. If they were talking something serious, they should involve her in. After all, she was the wife and the mother. But her willingness to protest was gone when James said, almost screaming,

"You two got married?"

"It was...necessary." said Eric. His voice was emotionless as ever, but he was smiling.

James came to her and hugged her. "Jesus, Mom! We should go home and have a party! Instead of..." his words stopped. "Oh, what the hell! We should have a party anyway!"

Sookie hugged him tight. Yes, they should have a party! When they're home, and not here, not in the middle of uncertainty about what's going to happen tomorrow.

It was almost morning when Eric kissed her goodbye. He did not tell her where he was going and it seemed not to matter because Sookie knew he would find her again tomorrow.

The sound of car was coming closer as Eric shot himself to the sky. Alcide and The Norrises were approaching. Sookie felt that the danger that lurked somewhere the whole time was getting bolder and bolder. The chill wind of the night seemed to agree with her. It blew hard and shook everything that was on its way. She became reluctant to go out to greet Alcide and the others. She wanted to go to bed and cover herself with blanket and pillow, as if by doing so, she had kept the danger at bay.


	43. To The Square Stones

Chapter 42

**To The Square Stones  
**

Something, someone, howled somewhere down in the valley. Its sound reached Sookie's ears like a melancholic song. She shuddered.

The day came quickly in the ranch of the Hounders. People woke up started working early. Sookie herself could not really sleep. She laid herself down restlessly on the bed in the room that had been prepared for her. She tried hard to switch off her mind and slept, but she could not. The idea of Eric sleeping somewhere out there and bonded to her troubled her; or was it the fact that Eric was not there, beside her, snuggled her until she fell asleep that troubled her more?

The sound from outside was getting louder and louder. Sookie looked at her watch. It was 07. 20. This was definitely too early. She should have slept! If they were going to go to Square Stones today, she would have problems to keep up with all those werewolves.

She forced herself to stay on the bed. She would need the energy and resting was the only way to gain it. It was around nine when she could not take it any more and got up, she washed her face and decided to get out.

"Morning, Mom," James greeted her. He had been waiting for her, she could tell. "Colin sent me to wake you up," he said. "We are having breakfast,"

"I am not hungry," said Sookie.

"Me neither," said James.

"Are you still thinking about Lu...Victoria?"

James took a deep breath. "I am," he said. "But it's Duke that I am worried about. I've been calling him, but...," he sighed.

"He's a trained dog. If nothing harms him, he will find you,"

"Are you sure, Mom?"

"I might not like Victoria, but I don't think that she's able to hurt you," said Sookie. _Hopefully; or I will make sure that she pays for what she has done._

James sighed. "So, Papa married you, finally," he said as if the subject had been becoming an uncomfortable subject for him and decided to change it. "Why did he say it was necessary? I thought he did it because he loved you,"

"You can ask him yourself about that," said Sookie. "But it was an emergency. He married me two days ago because André Paul would have done it if he had not,"

"That sounds sad, Mom,"

Somehow, yes. However, "It was a quick thinking, James,"

"Doesn't he love you?"

"You can read his mind. What do you think?"

His face was suddenly red. What a stupid question! Somehow, she could imagine what Eric had in his head.

"He wants you," said James and continued in his head. _All the time. _"He never says he loves you, he always uses the word 'want'. I don't know, Mom. He could not think straight every time I read his mind. One moment he was thinking about the werewolves, the next moment he was thinking about..." his face was getting redder. "...you. Or when Paul and Mr. Compton were there...he was saying that Paul was lying and having something to hide, then the next second it was you again," James smiled, "I think he loves you, he just doesn't want to admit it. Do you love him?"

"Somehow..." Eric's face flashed in front of her eyes, smirking and teasing her with his eyes.

"Somehow? You two are weird," said James. "If I love a girl, I will tell her that I love her."

Sookie smiled. She believed James would do, or even he had done it already. She took him in her arms. "We are...different,"

"How different?"

"Eric – your father, did not want to marry me on the first place, because we would be bond to each other, even death would not do us apart. If one of us die, he or I would die, too. He had done it once and he had not wanted to do it again, but he did. He married me because he thought that was the best way to protect me,"

"Godric told me once about his friend. He never mentioned the name, but now I tend to believe he was talking about Papa. Godric said that his friend was very loyal and fierce for the people that he loved. He would do anything to keep them safe, even when it means that he would put his life in danger," James wrapped his arms around her hips. "I guess, I have to accept that Papa could not express his feelings out loud,"

Sookie stroked his hair, which showed his blond root now.

"I'm glad that I am more like you, Mom,"

Sookie smiled. That was what she hoped too. Two Northmans in the same house would be too much for her to handle; no doubt about it.

"Sookie!" Alcide's voice turned her head around. He was standing in front of the meeting building. He waved at them.

"Come," said Sookie. "It looks like we have to eat somehow,"

"I am really not hungry,"

So was she, but they had to eat. Going to a battle or examination with an empty stomach was not a good idea. She had learned that since her high school time. The emptier her stomach was, the harder it was for her to concentrate on anything.

"Colin is waiting for you," Alcide said to James.

"For breakfast?"

Alcide smiled. "That and you have to choose five persons, beside Colin, your mother and me, to accompany you to Square Stones,"

"Five people only?" Sookie's eyebrow was lifted. That was not enough.

"Yes, there will be five people for every clan to enter the first ring, in which James and other young werewolves who are asked to come would be questioned and tested,"

"How many young werewolves will be there tomorrow?"

Alcide hesitated to answer. After a while, he said, "One,"

"One? Just me?" James' jaw dropped.

"It's an emergency session, James," said Alcide. "But I'll be there, don't worry,"

James forced himself to smile. _Yeah, right._

_He doesn't seem to be happy._ Alcide said in his head. _Doesn't he trust me?_

Yeah, didn't James trust him? Was there something that he did not tell her?

They had only a little breakfast. As much as Sookie forced herself to eat, she was almost not able to finish her bread, but James ate a lot, like nothing had bothered his mind. Somehow Sookie admired the appetite of the youth. They could fill up their stomachs in any situation.

After the breakfast, the Hounders were gathered. Colin chose his lieutenants to go with him, and ten other Hounders. Two of them were women. One was introduced to Sookie as Cooper's wife and the other as Doc's sister.

Colin asked his people to prepare themselves, in two hours they would leave Running Creek heading to Square Stones.

Sookie put her clothes together with James. His eyes were big when he saw the marriage dagger.

"This is cool," he said.

"That's our marriage dagger, James."

"You don't change rings?"

"No," said Sookie. "We put the dagger together, and we are bond..."

"Till death do you part?"

"No, not even death will do us part. If one of us dies before we break the dagger, we all die,"

James looked at the dagger. "And Papa did that to you, knowing that you can die..." he looked up. "Or do you want to be a vampire?"

"No,"

James gave the dagger to Sookie, who slipped the dagger inside her trousers.

"That's dangerous. I will ask if somebody has a shield to protect that dagger," he said. "Did he tell you where he slept?"

"No," said Sookie. "Did you read his thought?"

James shook his head. "Godric said I should give some privacy to him, and I thought I should do the same to Papa, too. It's not easy, you know because sometimes I feel like I know exactly what he thinks before he even does it,"

"You're his son. You have his blood running in your veins. Not just one or two drops, but the whole of it,"

"Yeah, I know that. But it's not easy, I can tell you,"

"Nothing is ever easy with Eric Northman, kiddo. Get used to that,"

James grinned. "I wonder what he would say if he ever heard you talking like this. As far as he concerns, nothing is ever easy with you. The most stubborn, pig-headed, irrational..." his face was red. "Well, you know Papa and what he thinks about you..."

"Stubborn? Pig-headed...is that what he thinks about me?"

"That, and other things too," his face was getting redder. "You know what..."

O yeah, she could imagine what Eric had thought.

Doc knocked down the door to tell them that Colin wanted to talk to them before they left. He took them to the meeting hall, which was empty. Inside, the Hounder Lieutenants, Alcide, Prescott, Jack and Jason were waiting. Colin himself was not there.

_I am fucked. I am really fucked. I've got to leave as soon as we're there. I've got to take the chance. _

Sookie heard a sound, but she did not know which one of them was speaking. "What is this Grand Meeting, actually?" she asked, tried to get that voice out of her head.

"The first reason was the werewolves' murders," said Cooper. "And talking about your idea of the Database and about Little Brother,"

"I thought we already agreed about the Database," said Sookie.

"Not all clans submit the data, Sook," said Alcide. "Some still believe it's a way to control us. We have been around for centuries in this country and nobody knows about it. Now, all of sudden, we became a target. Something big is happening, and some clan simply wanted to stay hidden,"

"And what's got to do with me?" asked James.

"People want to get to know you, James,"

"Why?"

Cooper looked at Alcide. "A Long Tooth like Hervaux would not claim a boy like you without any reason,"

Sookie turned to Alcide. She saw his jaws clenching. "I love his mother," said Alcide through his teeth.

"Even when you know that she belongs to Sheriff of Shreveport?"

"Eric Northman had died, or so we all believed. I didn't know that James was his son, until then. I thought if I could win James' heart..." Alcide fought back Sookie's stare. _I trust you not to read my mind, _he said, and then he sniffed. "And I thought I was not the one who was put in trial,"

"Nobody puts you in trial, Alcide," said Cooper. "I am just...curious," _He is hiding something, _his head told Sookie. _I have to watch over James._

Sookie cleared her throat. The air in the meeting hall suddenly felt heavy. The Hounders looked at Alcide like a dog watching a stranger who wanted to trespass the house of its master. "Talking about the murders," she tried to change the subject. "Have any of you find out who is the owner of the dagger?"

_Fuck. She...something..._

That voice started again. This time, it was not so clear. The owner tried not to say it.

"Miss Sookie," said Doc. "I've been wondering. Since you are closed with vampires' community and all, perhaps you could tell us if you have any idea who the vampire might be. Eric seems not to mind to work with werewolves,"

"I don't know much about that, Doc," said Sookie. "I had worked for him fifteen years ago more or less for a month, and then around two months ago, I've started seeing him again. Actually, the one who knows a lot about vampire is Alcide,"

Alcide shrugged. "I work only for Eric and nobody else. But I think you also know Bill Compton, Sookie. Didn't he tell you anything?"

"No," said Sookie. "But he left me a lot of puzzles," she took out the envelope. "And this is the last one. I don't understand what he tries to tell me. I already called the numbers, but it said that nobody is registered under those numbers,"

The envelope went from one hand to another. The men took time to look at it, scratched their foreheads, or squeezed their mouths, but nobody seemed to have idea what it was, until it reached Al's hand.

"This number looks familiar," he said.

The heads turned to him.

Chad took that envelope again and looked at it. "You're sure?" he asked his brother.

"Yeah, you remember when we read the books about Bon Temps, the telephone numbers that registered there..."

"You read telephone book?" Sookie's eyes got wider.

"He reads anything," Chad said. He narrowed his eyes. "Yeah...it's..." then he looked at his brother. "No!"

"What?" the people in the room got impatient.

"The other one I am sure of," said Al, taking the paper from Chad and pushed it to the middle. "It's ….."

_Say it now, idiot! Say it now! _

A voice screamed in Sookie's head. Her skin crawled. That voice was full of anger and impatient. As if the owner could not wait to find out the location.

Suddenly both Al and Chad went quiet. Their eyes, for just a second, blanked. At the same time, Sookie heard James' voice, growling.

_Keep it for yourself. Those numbers would only be spoken in front of my mother or me._

"James, you're bleeding," Doc's voice was like breaking the spell. The twins' eyes were back to normal.

_Shit, fuck! I've got to go out of here! That boy is too dangerous for me...I..._

Sookie's concentration was also broken. She turned to James and ignored the voice. From James' nose ran two red lines. Sookie took out a Kleenex and wiped off that blood. "Honey..."

"I am okay, Mom," said James, smiling, but soon after that, he fell from his chair. But before he touched the floor, somebody had caught his body. "I told you to be careful, James," Prescott's voice was closed to her ears. It seemed that Prescott could move like a wind, so that he could move without anybody had noticed. "You are not yet strong enough, Sookie's son. If you continue doing so, you will die,"

James forced himself to sit straight.

Sookie looked at him. Her hear raced fast when she saw how pale and how his lips trembled. He was in a lot of pain.

_The other numbers may not be spoken here, Mom. _His head told her. _I don't trust Larry. I'll tell you later._

The conversation afterwards seemed awkward. The Hounders looked at James with mix staring. The Twins looked at each other, confused. Their heads asked the same question: _what was that? Why can't we say what we know? _Cooper was more alerted than before, Larry sniffed from time to time, with eyes focused on James. Alcide looked at James with thoughtfully. Sookie tried with all her might not to listen to Alcide's thoughts. She knew she would regret it, but she had promised to herself not to listen to Alcide's thoughts, and she would try to keep her promise.

James' bleeding had stopped. Prescott stood behind him like a statue. He did not move, he did not even make a sound.

The air in the long hall seemed to get heavier. The tension among them was so high, pressing down every thought Sookie had, made her want to scream. It was not getting better either, as Colin entered the room with three men. The Hounders stood and nodded to the men who had just entered. Alcide was slowly standing, which made Sookie do the same. When James wanted to stand, one of the men said,

"No need, Son of Three Fathers. You need some rest,"

_What did he call him?_

Sookie looked at James. Son of Three Fathers?

"Ms Stackhouse..." the same man who called James 'Son of Three Fathers' smiled at her. "My name is Geraldo," he said. "I am very sorry, but I would ask you to leave the room. We want to talk to your son, from a Hounder to another. It is very important for your son in this desperate hours to learn some stories of the old time, so that he could answer the questions at the Gathering,"

Sookie wanted to protest, but Alcide took her hand. "Come, Sookie. It's not the time,"

"I want to know what they will tell James," she said, with eyes at James. "I am his mother!"

Colin came to her and said, "He has to finish the initiation by listening to the history of the pack and some wise words from the Elders, Sookie." He smiled, trying to reassure her. "He will be fine,"

Reluctantly, Sookie left the Hall. Alcide and Prescott walked behind her.

"You have to tell him not to use his power too often," said the faery as they were outside. "His body will not be able to take it,"

"What are you talking about?" asked Sookie.

"In his blood runs the blood of the Oldest wolf. Do you think it means nothing to the wolves?"

Sookie looked at Prescott. That faery's face was hard. He seemed bothered. She looked at Alcide and she was aghast to see how pale his face suddenly was. Cooper's words rang like a bell in her head. "Did you know this, Alcide? Was that what Cooper meant? You chose him not because you love him like a son, but because you knew that he has power over the werewolves?"

Alcide took a deep breath. "No," he said.

"Don't lie to me!"

"No, I don't," his green eyes were hard. "But my father did,"

"And you didn't bother to tell me? I thought you were my friend!"

Alcide reached out his hand, but Sookie stopped him. "Don't," she said. She did not want to hear any excuses or received any touch from him.

"My father..." Alcide's voice sounded heavy. "...asked me to keep an eye on James because he felt that he was special. He said that James had a strong aura around him. I felt it too. I think almost all werewolves feel it. My father wants to be sure if James is dangerous or not,"

"And if he is dangerous to you, what will you do?"

"I love you, Sookie. Do you really think that I will harm him?"

"You are a member of a pack and you listen to your captain, leader, or whatever you call your father. I am not sure if you will be able to refuse his order! You were not able to refuse his order to keep an eye on him; you won't be able to refuse the other order either!"

"It doesn't matter," it was Prescott, who said that. Alcide was clenching his jaw and did not say a word. "What matters now is to keep your son safe, Sookie,"

"How?"

"He may not use his power any more, until the full moon graces the sky,"

"And when will it be?"

"Over tomorrow," said Alcide.

"He may not use it or his body will be broken. Tell him not to talk to the wolves. He has to stop,"

"But tonight is the Gathering," said Sookie.

"No, tonight is a usual meeting. We introduce the five lieutenants who will join the gathering and the others who will guard the surrounding. Then in the morning we will go to the Square Stones to build the tent and prepare the place,"

The door of the Long Hall was opened. First, it was Colin and his lieutenant who left the building, the old three men, and then James. He looked paler than before. Sookie swore, if Prescott did not come to hold his body, James would fall to the ground. He was limp and shaken.

God, what had she done? She should have said no when James had asked her permission to go to Beaumont. Her cheeks were warm from the tears that fell from her eyes.

_Don't cry, Momma. _His head told her. _I'll be fine._

For the first time in her life, Sookie saw and somehow understood what it meant to live in a close knitted society like a pack of werewolves. As they were saying goodbye, all members came out of their houses and gave their loved ones bundles of clothes and food to eat on the road. The wives and husbands kissed each other goodbye. Doc's wife seemed not to want to let him go for she held him very tight and long. Al and Chad held and kissed a woman in turn. She was Chad's wife, James said, and Al's girlfriend. The Twins shared everything with each other, he continued, even women. Sookie was perplexed; not about the fact that the Twins shared everything, but about James' voice. He said in a flat as a-matter-of-fact voice, as if it had been a normal thing to do. Colin hugged two women. One was his wife and the other was his niece. The niece that he loved so much that he had sworn his vow upon her. Laura was her name and she hugged James tightly as he said goodbye to her.

"Promise me to return," Sookie heard her speak to him. "You don't see the other waterfalls yet,"

"I promise," said James.

She removed her necklace and put it around James' neck. "I want the necklace back," she said. "I'll hunt you down if you forget to give it back to me,"

"Hey, I promised you Italy, didn't I? I'll return. I promise,"

That girl, as many other girls at his school, had a crush on him, Sookie was sure of it; and it seemed that James liked her too.

The road they were taking seemed long and dusty. The Hounders did not take the normal road, but small paths across the dry land. Many times the cars shook heavily because they rolled over stones or mounds.

James sat beside her, pale and quiet. Alcide who sat in the front beside Cooper looked at her from time to time through the mirror. His green eyes looked at her softly. Sookie knew he wanted to apologize for not being honest, but at the moment she was more worried about James' condition than anything else. She held him and asked him to lay his head on her laps. He would feel better, she said.

"I am okay, Mom," he said.

"No, you're not," she said. "You will get sick if you force yourself like that,"

James laid down his head on her laps. "I am tired, Momma. That's all,"

James rarely called her 'Momma'. Normally he just called her "Mom". He did it only when he was sick or in a situation that he did not like. It's like calling her "Momma" would make everything better.

"Try to sleep, Honey," she stroked his hair. "Everything is going to be all right,"

"Yes, Momma,"

The dust flew high in the air as the convoy of the Hounders passed the road. The sun was getting higher on the sky. Sookie could not help, but wonder where Eric was now. Did he sleep in the ground, or in the caves somewhere? She looked down to see James, who was now asleep. Could Eric feel what James felt? Would he be able to say words that would make his son calm down?

Sookie sighed. Wherever he was, Sookie hoped Eric could feel them and come to meet them as soon as he was able.

"Don't worry, Ms. Sookie," said Cooper. From the mirror, she saw him smiling. "I'll guard him with my life,"

"Thank you, Cooper,"

"We'll all be behind him, Sook," said Alcide. "My men will come to meet us at the rand of the Square Stones. He'll be safe,"

Why did everybody talk as if James was going to enter a battlefield?

The sun almost reached the west sky when the cars entered a ground with a big sign on its gate. Romulus Inn. The parking lots were full with cars and bikes from different states. A lot of damped voices filled in Sookie's head like waves that came and went. She looked down to see James who was still sleeping. Somehow, she was glad that James could switch off his brain and just went to sleep. Softly she woke him up. "We are there, Sweetheart," she whispered. "Wake up,"

James straightened his body and rubbed his eyes.

_The Hounders, _Sookie heard somebody speaking. _I'll be damned!_

Alcide jumped out of the car and opened the door for them. "Welcome to the Square Stones, James," he said. "You will come here more often in the future. Pay attention to everything,"

James nodded.

Sookie stepped out and pulled Alcide to the side. "The people who come here, are they all werewolves?"

"Yes," said Alcide. "Except James, Prescott and you,"

"Jason?"

"He's half. He will be accepted, without question,"

"What do you mean with 'accepted without question'?"

"They can smell his blood. Listen Sookie, I will protect you and James," Alcide said, pressing her hand. "You have to trust me. You can be angry with me because I have not been totally honest me, but do it in another time. Now, you have to trust me,"

Prescott came to them. "I stay with James," he said, as if he wanted to calm down Sookie. "And I won't be alone,"

Cooper looked at him. "It's all up to Colin, Prescott," he said.

"What say you, James?" said Prescott.

"It's Colin's call," said James, avoiding Prescott's gaze. "I'll do whatever he says,"

Alcide's eyes were narrowing. _Prescott knows something...something that Jack forgot. _His head suddenly turned to Sookie. He sniffed. He knew that she had listened to him.

"Sorry..." Sookie murmured.

The Hounders gathered themselves and then went to the rooms, which were on the right side of the parking lot. The people who had been there first followed them with their eyes flickered. Some of them had red eye, and some of them were yellowish.

Sookie's skin crawled. She felt like entering a zoo at the feeding time. She heard noises coming from their heads, wondering about James. Why was that pale boy so important? What could he do? Why had he made the Elders dragged their asses to this place? Sookie tried her best to ignore them, but one of two voices had been able to come through.

_That's the bitch. The Blood Sucker must have been around._

Sookie closed her eyes. She had to be able to close her ears, otherwise she would get crazy listening to all the voices.

_Alcide Hervaux. Your time will come. _

What? Sookie turned around, but she could not tell who had said that. There were too many people!

Alcide opened one of the doors. "This is your room, Sookie," he said. "James will stay in the next room, with me and Prescott,"

"What about Jason?" she asked. "I'd feel better if Jason is with me,"

"I'll tell him," said Alcide. "Try to get some rest," he said. "Tomorrow is a long journey to the Stones. I call you when we have the dinner,"

Sookie entered the room and closed the door behind her. There were a bad, a commode, a table and a chair. She sighed. It's not exactly a luxury hotel, but at least there was a place to lay down and relaxed her bones, which were aching from all the bumps and the shaking from the road.

She put the bags at the corner, and lay down. Whatever they had to face tomorrow, she had to forget it, even for a while; otherwise, she would not be able to sleep. It would be a disaster if she went there without power. James was surrounded by his 'brothers', she told herself. They would protect him. And Prescott, who was for some reasons he did not want to tell, was there. He seemed to be ready to protect him.

Sookie closed her eyes. She had to be able to sleep. Yes, James would be okay. She did not need to be worried too much. She took a deep breath, and slowly the tiredness and the weary that had been grabbing her mind took her over.

Suddenly...Knock, knock, knock..

Sookie opened her eyes. Was it dinner time already? She got up and opened the door. Strange, nobody was there.

Knock, knock, knock.

Sookie turned around and saw Eric at the window. She closed the door, and then opened the window.

He jumped in. There were traces of blood around his mouth. He must have fed somewhere.

Sookie tiptoed and wiped off the traces. "The werewolves will smell it," she said, as if she wanted to excuse herself for doing it.

Eric put his big hands on her face. His eyes were flickering and his fangs were bared. Something had aroused him, perhaps it was the tension at that place or the blood that he drank had given him new energy.

"James is weak, Eric," she said, trying to draw Eric's attention away from sex. "He bled again,"

"Again?" he asked.

"It seems so," she said. At least that was what she had understood from Prescott's saying.

"What had he done?" his face was getting nearer.

"Prescott said something about his wolf-blood and the wolves...I am not..." Eric moved a step forward and automatically pushed her closer to the bed. "..sure what he meant..."

"We can ask him..." he said, moving closer and closer. The result was Sookie fell onto the bed. Eric crawled on her. "...later..."

Sookie touched his face. "Where have you been?" she asked.

"Somewhere in the wood, where we were last night," he said. "I don't want to be too far away from both of you," his nose touched her neck, kissed it and he rolled himself over. Then, he took her into his arms. "After we finish our business here, we go straight home and stay there until I finish my duty as a husband,"

"Your duty as a husband?" Sookie looked up to him.

"Yes, and a lover," he touched her nose. Perhaps it was his fangs that seemed to look bigger, or the lights in his eyes … but everything about him now somehow...intoxicating...and what did he have in mind? Sookie wondered. Non-stop sex for seven days or what? How could somebody think about sex, when the situation out there was not so clear?

"You think too much," he said, pulling her up so that their faces were now on the same level. With one roll, he was already on top of her, and as he closed his eyes, his lips started searching for her lips and consumed them. Strong and passionate. Sookie could not do anything else, but answered his kisses. It was the wrong way to forget the problems that they were facing right now, but it was also the more delightful way.

Suddenly he stopped. He sniffed, his head moved like a snake. "Somebody is at the door. It'd better be important," he lifted his body.

Sookie was lying on the bed, out of breath. Her blouse was half open, and her jeans too. She grabbed his neck and kissed him. Whoever that person was, she did not want to open the door, unless it was Alcide.

Eric smirked when he pushed her softly. "There are two of them and smell almost the same,"

The Twins. Sookie fixed her blouse. It was important.

"You thought so too," said Eric, got off her. "Lucky for them, otherwise I would teach them some lesson to interrupt me like this.

Sookie got off the bed and opened the door. The Twins did not seem to surprise that she had opened the door before they knocked.

"Ms. Sookie," one of them said. "We have to tell you now...about the numbers..."

Sookie opened the door wider.

"Good evening, Sheriff," said Chad.

Eric did not answer, but nodded only.

"I will say the numbers in my head..." said Al.

"...because it will be better..." said Chad.

"That way."

Sookie cleared her throat. "Which one of you?" she asked. "I can't read both of you at the same time,"

"Mine," said Al. "But if I stop, read Chad's,"

"Do you always do that? Continue each other thought?"

"Yes," said both of them. "We can't help it,"

"Do you need the paper for the number?"

"Not necessary," said Al. "I remember,"

"So, please tell me," said Sookie.

Al looked at her in the eyes. His mouth did not move, but his head said, _as we wanted to go to Bon Temps, Colin ordered me to look for any information about Bon Temps. The second number is the Latitude and the Longitude of Bon Temps._

"The what?" asked Sookie.

_The Latitude and the Longitude are the numbers that point a location on a map. The number is read 32.445; -93.156. You can check it on google or a normal map, if you don't believe me._

"I do, I do,"

Eric lifted his eyebrow.

_Good. The first number is the postal code of Bon Temps. I read it in The Bon Temps Telephone book._

"You read telephone books?"

Eric turned to Al. "You are worse than Aude," he snorted. "She read almost every thing, perhaps except telephone books," there was a mocking smile on his face

_Al read anything, _it was Chad, who answered. Al looked clearly offended. His mouth was making a straight line. _But we can't figure out the first part. 71356 is Bon Temps Code..._

_And 0234 is...a house number? _Al continued. _There is no house with that number. I checked it already._

Sookie's knees became weak. She knew that number very well. It was her own house number. Of course Al would not find that number because she had not used the telephone line for more than fifteen years and just connected the line recently. She did not know which telephone book that Al had read, but she believed the number would not have been on the book, yet. Whatever Bill wanted to tell her, it was somewhere in her old house.

Eric held her and took her to the bed. "Why did you two come here?"

"There was a voice in my head that told me to speak only to Ms. Sookie..."

"And nobody else,"

Eric's eyebrow was lifted. "Including me?"

"Yes. But we know that Ms. Sookie could read mind, therefore we decided to say it in our heads so that you can't hear,"

"Why now? She needs some rest," Eric growled. "Tomorrow will be a hard day for her and you decided to bother her?"

"Forgive us, Sheriff," said Chad. "We thought it would be better for her that we told her about the numbers now because..."

"We are not sure if we will be able to do it in the next days,"

Sookie looked at them. She felt grateful that they had done it. "Thank you, Al, Chad,"

The Twins nodded. Then, they excused themselves and left.

"Who had told them to speak the numbers in front of you only?" asked Eric. He looked troubled. "This person is able to glamour werewolves..."

"It was me, Papa,"

A weak, but familiar voice was at the door. James, paler than Eric, was leaning on the door frame. "I thought it would be better that way," Then, without another word, James fell to the floor.


	44. I'll be seeing You

**Author's Note: Sorry, for the late update. No excuses, except that I was tied up. **

**Forty-Three  
**

**I'll be seeing you   
**

It seemed like it was a time that had never ended; watching James lying on the bed, looking as pale as the moon in the early morning, and grabbing Eric's arm so tight that the marks were lingering on. It also made her feel numb. She wanted to say something – anything; that in her desperate thought she believed might wake him up, but her lips were sealed. Not a word escaped from them.

Eric was sitting on the edge of the bed. He did not say anything either. However, Sookie believed, Eric tried to wake him up through his mind.

After awhile, James made a grunting sound.

'Click' Eric's fangs were bared. And before Sookie could say anything, Eric bored his fangs to his own arm, and then the next second, he was having James' head in his arm. "Drink this,"

Slowly James opened his eyes. "Papa...I am a part of werewolves' pack now," James pushed the arms. "I can't drink vampires' blood any more. I don't want to,"

Eric's eyes flickered dangerously. "You drink my blood now, before your heart stops beating. You won't be able to face all those beasts tomorrow if you have no strength left. And I am not any vampire. I am your father. As your father, I ask you to. _Snälla_..." his voice sounded sombre at the end. Eric was almost crying. Those eyes would have been watery by now, had he been human.

"Please, James..." said Sookie fondly. "It won't do anybody any good if you are sick,"

"I can't, Mom. The Elders told me, as a werewolf, I may not drink vampire blood, otherwise I will get addicted to it, like junkies..."

"You are my son!" strangely, Eric did not growl. His voice sounded soft and deep. "You are not a werewolf. The blood that runs in your body is mine. Even if it was not, unless you drink my blood you would die before the morning comes. Even now, I hardly hear your heart beat. I don't know how long your heart will be able to support your body. If you continue being stubborn like this, your heart will stop. I would not have any other choice, but to turn you into vampire. So for the love of your mother, drink my blood,"

James looked at Eric, smiling. "You won't turn me," That smile looked sinister on his pale face "You love Mom too much. She won't forgive you if you do that,"

"Don't challenge me," now Eric's voice was growling. His head moved like a snake.

As stubborn as James could be, he seemed to know not to cross the danger of challenging his father. Trembling, James took that arm and started sucking it.

Sookie knelt down beside him, and touched his hair. She could see how hard Eric's face was as their eyes met. She smiled at him. She knew, Eric would have not turned James, even when James had refused to drink his blood. She knew Eric loved him, and turning him into a vampire was like sleeping with him. As evil and manipulative as Eric could be, she believed, Eric would not cross that line. She still remembered how angry Eric had been when she had accused him of doing so...and those cold blue eyes were telling her the same anger.

"Enough," said Eric, removing his arm from James' mouth, and softly put his head onto the pillow. "Try to sleep," he stood up.

Sookie covered his body with a blanket. "Is he going to be all right?" she asked.

"Only if he stops being stubborn and starts to sleep!"

"I can't," said James. "I may not sleep. You have to know something important,"

"What is more important than keeping you alive, Son?" Eric turned to him.

"Your life," he said.

"I am dead," said Eric. "Twice. My life means nothing compares to yours,"

Sookie looked at Eric, surprised. She never thought Eric would have said something like that.

James pulled himself up. His pale face was slowly getting reddish. Eric's blood obviously worked faster than Sookie had thought. "I heard voices," he said. "Voices from all over the surrounding,"

"Vampires?" asked Eric.

"I don't know," said James. "They are not as clear as yours or other vampires. It seems like the voices are damped...like something blocked them...and they speak your name...Papa..."

Eric stood there, looked at James. His eyes were narrowing. "My name?"

"Yes," said James. And then he started telling them the story when Luna and he had been in a foxhole. He said he heard the conversation among three men, which one of them was the member of The Hounders. The other, he could not tell. One of them was definitely human.

"How do you know that he was human?" asked Sookie.

"He did not answer me, when I called him," said James. "And he was the one, who killed the werewolf at Fangtasia,"

"Are you sure?"

"He said it himself," said James. "I believe, Duke can smell him when he is around...Duke...and Victoria...had taken him..."

"That woman is yours by tomorrow," said Eric. "If she hurts your dog, then I give you the permission to do whatever you wish to her,"

Sookie's jaw dropped. What had Eric just said?

"No," said James. "I don't want that,"

"You don't want her any more?" asked Eric.

"No...yes...I mean, she should be mine when she wants it, not when I want it," said James.

Eric's eyebrows lifted. "As you wish, my son,"

James fingered his hair. "I am afraid, Mom. Those voices are like the voices I heard when I was a kid...you know...I heard only 'kill' and sometimes Papa's name..." his eyes were wild. "And they are everywhere,"

Sookie took him into her arms. "Your father will be able to handle them, don't worry about that. Right, Eric?"

"One half-life, maybe. But not many,"

"Half-life?" Sookie turned to Eric. "What do you mean?"

"James can hear vampires' thoughts, you can't. Were they werewolves, you would be able to hear them too,"

"Dear God,"

"That means, the other werewolves will be in danger,"

"But they are here for you, Papa. You should leave; they will not attack us,"

"Make no mistake, James. Those half-lives do not come here only for me. Tonight is the gathering of all werewolves' clans in the Northern America. Every werewolf who comes tonight is the best member of the clan. If those half-lives attack the werewolves and bite them, they can turn the werewolves into half-lives!"

"I have to warn them," said James, removing Sookie's arms.

"The hell you will," said Sookie. "You listen to your father and sleep!"

"Mom..."

"I don't want to hear any more words from you," said Sookie. "If you step down your feet, your father will take you away from here, I mean it!"

"Pa..." James looked at Eric with his big blue eyes, searching for support.

"You heard her," said Eric, walking away. "I would not want to make Sookie angry, if I were you,"

"Fine!" James sulked and laid himself down. "I am not a child any more, just in case you two do not notice!" Then he covered his face with the blanket.

Sookie followed Eric leaving the room.

The cold air touched her face as soon as they were out. There were some figures moving in the dark and some howling was carried by the wind from far distance darkness.

"Where is that faery?" said Sookie. "He promised to keep an eye on James! And where is Alcide?" She was walking to the next door, when she heard a voice from her own room.

_James...I am so sorry..._

Sookie turned around and wanted to open the door, when Eric's hand stopped her. "Let them be," he said.

"I will not let that filthy..."

"James needs it," he said. His voice was firm. He did not take 'no' for an answer.

"She took his dog and broke his heart!"

"Then let James deal with it, on his own,"

_Sleep, James. I'll watch over you..._

"We have to find Alcide," said Eric. "They have to know about the half-lives,"

Suddenly the door of the next room opened. Cooper stood in front the door with open shirt. His trousers were also not properly closed. Behind him was Prescott. Calmly, the faery put his green tunic on.

_I'll be damned. _Sookie heard Cooper's head saying. _Where is James? What happened to me?_

"James is sleeping, Coop," said Sookie annoyed. "In my room,"

"Sorry, Ms. Sookie," said Cooper. "Everything went quickly. I didn't know what happened,"

"Don't tell me that you don't remember what you just did," Prescott came to the door.

Copper buttoned up his shirt. His lips were sealed, but Sookie could see in his eyes, he was uncomfortable with the whole situation.

Prescott tapped Cooper's shoulder. He tied his long blond hair into a bun. "What did he tell you, Sheriff? You look...unease,"

Eric lifted his eyebrows.

"If Godric's son is unease, it can only mean danger,"

"Call your brothers, Cooper. I have a bad news to deliver," said Eric.

Alcide stood with his hand crossed. "My brothers would come in two hours," he said. "Frank just texted me. If James had heard correctly, they couldn't be that far. I am afraid two hours would be too late for them to help us,"

"Are you sure about it, Sheriff?" asked Colin. "It seems impossible. None of us heard any thing, and we are very good with our ears,"

The werewolves' eyes were on Eric.

"James can hear things," said Eric, slowly. "Something that will make your fur standing if I tell you the truth. You just have to trust him,"

"What thing?" one of the werewolves asked. "Voices? Thoughts? I heard that his mother could hear our thoughts..."

Now the eyes were on Sookie. Sookie tried to be as calm as possible and pretend not to understand what that man had just said.

"...which is of course nonsense," Alcide continued the sentence. His eyes were flickering. Sookie saw the eyes of some Hounders had turned yellowish. She pulled herself together and tried to avoid listening to any thoughts.

"So, what thoughts, Sheriff? We were not born yesterday; we could handle the truth, just like the truth about James' father,"

The room were full with noises. Some said that they did not believe that Eric was his father, and some said that whatever James heard had to be interesting. It would be better for them to accept the story about James' father without questioning.

"James Stackhouse never lies," said Eric. His voice was deep. The room was suddenly quiet. Sookie realized that the werewolves were alerted. As creatures that lived based on their senses and instincts, they could feel that the Undead creature in front of them was angry. He did not show it, but they could read from his gestures, which was stiff and the colour of his eyes, which was darker than before, and the lines around his mouth, which were straight and hard. Sookie could not help but to notice that Eric's hands were forming into claws. "If he said he heard things, then I'd advise you to take his words. Your life depends on it,"

"Then what did he hear, Eric?" asked Alcide.

"Half-lives, they're coming to this direction,"

The heads were turning around. The words were hissed; some of them even jumped from their seat and looked around. The little conference room of the hotel became tensed. The air seemed to be sucked. Each and every single one of them seemed to have shorted breath. Sookie could hear their hard and slowly sighs, crept out from their noses, quietly, as if none of them had wanted to be caught of letting it out.

"How many?"

It was Colin who asked. His voice was firm. It was clear for everybody that he did not question what James had heard. He accepted it as truth. Like being ordered, the Hounders were bowing a little, their eyes were on Eric again.

"He did not say. He said that they are coming closer from all direction. You'd better tell the others, to strengthen the security,"

The werewolves looked at each other.

Sookie had a very bad feeling about it. They had not expected this; they had not taken any security measurement.

"You are taking my son here without thinking about protection?" Eric's voice was higher.

"No, we don't need any protection. Besides, who is going to dare enough to face ten clans of werewolves? They must have been out of their mind!"

"Werewolves!" Eric growled. "You never change! You think your muscles and blind loyalty of the members of the clan will save you from anything! There are murders among you, and yet you did not consider that those murders would come here and take the chance to destroy you! You, who come here today, are the best members of your clans. If they want to have good soldiers of their own, they would not pick a nobody from the street. They would come here, like they come to a supermarket, and pick the best goods the market offers!"

The conference room was quiet. Nobody dared to look at anybody's eyes. It seemed as if they were afraid that the others would know what was in their hearts.

"I will go," Prescott's voice broke the silence. "I will go out and find out if what Sookie's son said is true,"

"No," said Cooper. "You are not one of us. You can't put yourself in danger. I won't allow you,"

Secretly, almost breathlessly, Sookie stole a look at Cooper's wife. It was clear for everyone the meaning behind his sentence. Mary Star turned her face away. Her lips formed a straight line and her head she said, _I knew it. _

"You don't own me, Ni'ish Keeper," Prescott said. There was sadness in his voice that Sookie could not explain. Did he regret that Cooper did not 'own' him? "Besides, I know trees and forest's people better than you. The moon will not affect me the same way she does to you, and my blood will seduce and confuse them. It will give you all more time to figure out what to do," he looked at Sookie. "If His Highness ever asks about me, tell him, I may not have the wings on my shoulder, but I am happy to serve his family,"

Then he walked out of the room.

The night was creeping in.

It was long hours after Prescott had gone. There was no sign of his return yet.

The communication among the werewolves must be a sophisticated one that without any instrument or whatsoever they could connect with each other. Soon after Prescott had left, the werewolves gathered themselves in the cafeteria and talked about the situation. Sookie had never seen so many grim faces like tonight. Most of them were sitting quietly and very rarely moved or stirred from their seats. It seemed like they were talking to each other with signs and symbols.

After a while, Colin, Alcide and a werewolf came to her. Sookie recognized him as one of those who had came to the house.

"Ms. Stackhouse," he nodded. " I am Keane," he said. "We've met before, at Sheriff's house,"

Sookie nodded.

"Sookie, we agree to move out from the hotel tonight," said Colin. "It would be better for all of us, if we move on and reach the Square Stones as soon as possible,"

"But it's late at night and James is sleeping," said Sookie. "He is very weak, Colin. He will not be able to go to the Square Stones. If my understanding on that place is correct, it will be only a torture for him to go there!"

"Somebody has leaked our meeting at this place," said Keane. "They expect us to be here, but what this traitors don't calculate, that we will leave this place to a new place. And if Sheriff tells the truth about the half-lifes, they will not be able to stand the sunlight just like him. Their time is short. We can try to win the time,"

"What if their destination is the Square Stones?" asked Eric. "What if they are going there and ambush you?"

"Then we have to take our chances, Sheriff," said Colin. "We are either doomed here, or doomed there. But there, we have more chances, because the Square Stones is like a fort to us. It will protect us from the outsiders and hold the enemies outside,"

The night suddenly became alive. The werewolves moved fast and almost without sound preparing their equipment. Each of them carry a backpack with water and some food in it. Their guns and knives were hanging on their belt or put carefully on their legs and covered with their troussers.

James sat at the edge of the bed with sleepy eyes. Sookie felt sorry seeing him that way. That boy needed his sleeps.

"I'll carry him," said Eric. "He will need his power tomorrow,"

"Shouldn't we wait for Prescott?" asked Sookie. "We don't know how the situation out there is. I am afraid, Eric, that we will fall into a trap,"

"James will tell us if they are there or not. Right, James?"

"Yes, Papa," he said without opening his eyes.

Sookie was not sure if James had understood the question or he just had answered any question with 'yes'.

Eric told James to climb on his back, and then followed Sookie going to the parking lot. The werewolves stood quietly. Their shadows were like trees, standing still under the glimmering light of the moon.

"I'll stay here, Sookie," said Alcide. "I'll wait for my brothers,"

"Can't you text them and tell them to go straight to the Square Stones?"

"Too risky,"

"Alcide, you don't think that nobody has sent messages to the half-lifes, if there is a traitor among you, do you?"

_The Pack Leaders decide to go, but not necessarily to Square Stones. _Alcide told her in his head. _For the moment, it is the destination. But we agreed to take different destination, if we had to._

"And you are telling me, now?"

_Listen carefully, Sookie. _Alcide stared at her deep into her eyes. _Whatever happens on the road, trust only Colin. He is the only one who took a vow to protect James with his life. _

"Alcide, I don't like this. I prefer to go straight to Dallas to follow them..."

Alcide grabbed her hand. _James has to go to Square Stones. It's the only way that he is fully accepted by the Werewolves. He chose to be a werewolf, you have to respect his decision._

"I would let her hand go, if I were you," Eric's voice sounded threatening. "If Sookie decides to go Dallas, we will go to Dallas, and not a step away from it,"

"Please, Sookie," said Alcide, slowly he let her hand go. "Do it for James,"

"Do what, Alcide?" asked James with his sleepy voice.

"Nothing, James. It's between your mother and me. Go back to sleep,"

"Oh," then he fell asleep again. His head was hanging on Eric's shoulder and his hands were powerlessly hanging around Eric's neck. Soon his soft breaths were heard. He fell asleep again.

"What about Jason?" asked Sookie. She looked around to find her brother, but she did not see him.

"He is with the others in the front. He volunteered himself as a scout," he said. "But I would not trust him, if I were you. He is not a pureblood were. He would be greatly affected by the moon and the situation and it would be difficult for him to control himself. I am afraid, Sookie, he could endanger you or James," Alcide took a deep breath. "Just think about it, Sookie, please," Alcide moved away. "James has to go through it,"

Eric watched Alcide going away from them. "Whatever he said," said Eric. "he had told you the truth,"

"How do you know?"

"Alcide Hervaux had never looked more worried than he just did. I do not trust many werewolves, but if I trust them, mostly they are loyal to me and they never lie to me or to my beloved people," he looked at her. "I will not be able to stay with you during the day. Trust nobody, but the one that Alcide chose and the faery. If he comes back,"

Did Eric mean _if he came back _or _when he came back?_

Cooper came to them. "We are leaving, Ms. Sookie," he said. Then, he looked at James. "Good that he is sleeping,"

"Yeah," said Sookie, aimlessly.

"Stay close with us, Ms. Sookie. You'll be safe,"

"Oh, she will," said Eric in a matter of fact voice. Both Sookie and Cooper turned to him, astonished. "Otherwise, you won't,"

* * *

Around an hour later, the werewolves started moving, leaving the owner of the motel cursing. "I demand the full payment," he said, almost shouting. "Even when you, sons of bitches, do not return in full numbers!"

"Greedy asshole!" somebody shouted back. "You should be worried of your sorry ass if we return in full numbers!"

"Make sure you do that, boys! I might not like your ugly faces, but I still need your money!" then the motel owner murmured some words, which Sookie did not really get.

Sookie looked backward for the last time. The werewolves, who were left behind, standing quietly at the parking lot. She could not see which one of them was Alcide, but she could hear him talking to her. _I'll see you at The Square Stones, Sookie._

Sookie took a deep breath. _Yes, I'll see you there, my friend._

The moon was high at the sky as they slowly moved. Its pale lights did not show the path clearly, but the werewolves did not seem to be bothered. They must have known the path quiet well.

Sookie looked at James, who was dangling on Eric's shoulder. His face was no longer pale, but not exactly fresh either. Even in his sleep, he looked tired. To Sookie's horror, he looked older, much older than some months ago when they had arrived in Bon Temps.

"Don't worry too much, Sook," said Eric. "He will be fine. He is among his people. It doesn't matter what they think about me, they will protect James,"

"How could you be so sure?"

"James has something that they don't,"

"Which is?"

"A direct access to vampires and I think they can feel James' powers or at least, the way The Grey Hounder Clan treats him make them...curious. They want to know what he is, and they will not let him being harmed, until they get what they want,"

That was not a very good way to calm her down, not at all. In fact, Sookie was getting more worried.

The journey seemed so slow. They had to stop many times either to listen or to check the trails. The werewolves were a group of people, who depended a lot on the things that they saw or smelt. Nothing seemed to escape from their eyes, nose or ears. A little bent on the branch, or some spots on the tree, which for others did not matter, would mean different for the werewolves.

Suddenly the group stopped. The forest became quiet. The sounds of steps and low conversation were gone. Nobody even moved.

"What happened?" asked Sookie. She felt her heart beating so fast that she swore it had been jumping outside of her ribcage.

_Shit. _Sookie heard somebody thought. _He moves too fast._

Who? What?

Sookie looked around. The sound of bones cracking and snarling made her realize that the werewolves were starting to transform. Somewhere, she heard Colin's voice, "Protect Little Brother!"

"Stay close, Sookie," said Eric. His voice was deep and growling. "Focus. Use your power!"

Sookie forced herself to concentrate. She fought the urge to see if everything was all right with James. He was all right. He was on Eric's back. Eric would not let anything happen to him. _Now, focus! _She told herself. This was not the place or time to be afraid. She took a deep breath. Her son's life depended on her too.

_There are too many of them. I can sense it. _

_Fuck. I should have been out of here earlier. Fuck! Why did they not tell me?_

_Somebody is moving fast. Too fast for my ears._

_My mother, the moon, who is watching over me, show me your grace and let your silver lights be harmful to those who deceit you. My mother, the moon, who is watching over me, I beg of thee to send your wisdom and show me the path. My mother, the moon, who is watching over me,..._

Sookie shook her head to get rid the pray-chanting off her head. It gave her strange feeling to hear somebody praying to the moon. She felt as if she had been part of some kind of cult ritual. It was just...weird. And one of the werewolves, she did not know who, was a traitor. Could it be Larry, just like what James had told her? If he was, how to tell the other Hounders? Would they trust her or James? Both of them were outsiders. Even though they had accepted James as a member of the clan, he was still an outsider. Larry had been born and raised among the clan. They would have trusted Larry more.

The seconds crept into minutes, the minutes became hours and yet, nothing happened. The night was getting cold and the moon was slowly slanted to the west. Morning was nearer. Sookie could see Eric getting restless. He had to leave, sooner or later. As much as he did not want Sookie to know or to see, he could not hide his true nature.

Slowly, Sookie got restless too. How long did they have to stay like that? She looked around/ The werewolves did not move from their spots. They were like soldiers waiting for their orders. All were in high alert and ready to fight.

Suddenly, James woke up and gasped. His breaths were fast, as if somebody had chased him.

"Honey..." said Sookie, worried.

Gently Eric put him down.

"They're here," he said, grabbing Eric's arms. "They're here!"

Then, Sookie heard a howling. Long and clear. Another howling answered the first one, and then, the forest was full with sound.

The forest was alive.


	45. The Werewolves Company

Forty-Four

**The Werewolves Company  
**

Sookie held her gun tightly.

Some werewolves circled them as if they had placed themselves as shields. Eric stood beside her like a statue. His pale skin was shimmering under the moonlight. His hands were spread and formed like claws. James stood behind Eric; he looked shaken.

Strangely, the forest was quiet, almost dead. Sookie did not hear anything, not even thoughts. She heard James' short breaths and his thought of fear that they might have not survived this ambush.

Then somewhere, Sookie heard somebody screaming or gnarling, more likely, which were answered by the werewolves around her. One by one, the werewolves shifted their shapes. The sound of the cracking bones, the deep and low voices that they made when they completed their shapes and the clothes that suddenly were thrown away terrified her. She moved backward and grabbed to anything behind her. When she touched something cold, Sookie realized, it was Eric. She turned around. His face was hard.

"I won't be able to stay here any longer," he said. His fangs were out and his blue eyes were bluer than she had ever seen. His iris was yellowish and there was red light in the middle of it. Eric looked as if he could jump over her and bore his fangs into her at any minutes. "We have to leave," Strangely, his voice was as cold as ever.

Sookie nodded. Yes, they had to leave. Eric would need a place to hide from the sun and to sleep. She would be too weak and helpless against the half-lifes, and James had to leave, did not matter why.

But before she could move, the fight had come to her. From behind the trees, Sookie saw something. She could neither call them wolves or men. They were standing on their feet, their bodies were covered with black fur and their faces! They had wolf faces, but their eyes were red and so were their mouths. Something was dropping from that open mouths and she could not call it spit. Whatever it was, it must have been hot or acid because she saw some steam coming out of it. Or was it just her eyes that now were terrified seeing such creatures? Their hands were bigger than any normal hands she had ever seen and the finger nails at the end of those hands were black, long and pointed.

The werewolves stepped backward. The circle around Sookie, James and Eric was getting smaller.

"Mom..." Sookie heard James calling her, "Mom..."

"Focus James," said Eric, "focus and stay close to me,"

Sookie took a deep breath. And for the first time after a long long time, she prayed. _Jesus Christ, praise Thy Kingdom in Heaven. Make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light..._

She stood still on her position and let the werewolves fight back the attack from the half-lifes. She realized that the werewolves did not fight individually. There were always two or three werewolves fighting against one half-lifes.

Then she felt some strong wind coming from behind her. The next thing she saw was some golden light moving so quickly that her eyes could not catch. The half-lifes were thrown away to every direction with torn apart limbs. Horrifying scream and growling filled the air.

"Mom..."

Sookie turned around. James was standing by himself, looking pale and shaken. She realized what or who the golden light was. It was Eric; and the golden light must have been his long blond hair.

And at the moment her guard was down, something black jumped over her and pushed her down to the ground. A half life was on her with his mouth opened and some liquid came out of his mouth so rotten that her stomach rebelled at once.

"Mom!"

Sookie heard James screaming. Without thinking any further, she pushed her gun at the half-life body, and 'bang'! Black blood sprayed from his body and then he fell on her. Sookie pushed his body and stood on her feet as quickly as possible. In front of her very own eyes, she saw slowly the body changing into a pale man. Then rapidly that body turned into a pile of black red _thing_. Was this how a vampire looked like when he died?

Body parts were flying; some werewolves were thrown to the ground; some of them even had changed into their human form again and did not move. Sookie found herself back to back with James. She heard James saying in his head that he should have had a gun with him and she could not agree more. She did not know how many half-lifes were out there, but it seemed that they had never stopped coming. Like a hydra, you cut one, and two would come. The werewolves were slowly pushed back. The circle that protected James and her had been already long broken. Her gun was slowly getting hot from being fired and she was afraid slowly she would be out of ammunition.

Suddenly, she heard Eric's voice. "Sookie, I go now. James, take care of your mother!"

Morning. Morning would come, sooner than she thought it would have. Sookie smiled, but her smiled was gone as quickly as how it had come. When a black figure jumped over her and threw her to the ground. Her gun flew to the air and landed somewhere. As his rotten mouth dove into her neck, Sookie closed her eyes tightly. _This is it. _She thought. _It's over now._

Then suddenly the half-life was thrown to the ground and she heard James shouting, "Duke!"

* * *

Alcide watched how Sookie and the others moved slowly into the forest. His chest was heavy. Sookie and James were entering the forest, which was sacred for werewolves. No human had ever been allowed entering it and now there were two of them and a vampire. The world was changing.

He looked at his mobile phone once again. The message was still standing there. _In Two hours. _Two hours of waiting in uncertainty. He was not sure if he could wait that long. But there were only around twenty werewolves left. He could not do much with that number of people. If they met the half-lifes along the way, it would be a disaster.

Who were those half-lifes? From where did they come from? If they were some kind of army; who controlled them? Human? Vampires? For what?

"Alcide," Dawson from Black Claw Clan came to him. "I have a strange feeling about all of this. We'd better go after them,"

"I know," said Alcide. He wanted to go with them too. He wanted to be as near as possible with Sookie and James. Eric could stay with them as long as the sun did not come out. After that, they were alone, surrounded by many werewolves. If they had ever smelt Sookies' or James' blood...Alcide shivered to imagine what was going to happen to them! "But we have to wait for the others," he continued with heavy heart. "You also have to wait for your brothers to come, don't you?"

"Yes, still, I don't like it,"

"Neither do I, Dawson, but still, we have to wait. I don't know how many half-lifes are out there, but I am certain any additional help would be very useful,"

Dawson sighed. "Fuck!" he cursed. "I know that boy will bring nothing, but problems. The way you all go nuts about him…it makes my blood frozen!"

"Be careful with what you say, Dawson. You are talking about my son,"

"Seriously, Alcide. This whole fucking charade with the fucking introduction to the clans makes me sick," he spat on the ground. "We all want him for whatever reason. Some fucking sickos believe that he will save us from misery. The way I see it, nobody can save us from misery, but ourselves. Besides, I don't see our way of life as a misery, it's freedom. I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. I don't need any fucking human permission to live my life! Look what happened to the vampires. They can't even suck human without being afraid to be punished and sent to jail!"

Somehow Dawson was correct. The vampires had their True Blood now. If they wanted to drink from human, it had to be a volunteered action. Vampires were not allowed to drink from any human without the permission from the human part. Of course there were cases here and there that the vampires sucked the human forcefully. And if they did, the human could report the vampires to the police or the liaison office that acted as a mediator between human and vampires.

"How long do we have to wait here, Al?" Dawson asked.

"Until the others come,"

"I hate fucking waiting,"

"So do I," said Alcide. "But we have to wait. I don't see any other choices, Dawson. If we force ourselves to enter the forest, we will be outnumbered by the half-lifes."

"How much do you trust the boy?"

Alcide looked him straight into the eyes. "With my life,"

"They're right. Either you can't think straight any more or that boy is very important for your clan,"

"You can say whatever you want, Dawson. But one thing is sure, you will be thankful to that boy tomorrow. And if you do, don't call him 'that boy' any more. His name is James Stackhouse. You'd better get used to it,"

The night went slowly. The werewolves were getting more and more restless. They wanted to follow their family and friends who had been long gone. Alcide understood them very well, as the restlessness started creeping on his skin as well. Most of them wondered how to fight the half-lifes since none of them had ever seen one.

"What about you, Alcide?" one of them asked. "Did you ever see one?"

Alcide felt as if he had a lump in his throat. Yes, he had seen one. He had seen how Simon Black slowly had turned into a half-life, how at the end he had had no other choice, but to shoot him. Alcide sniffed. The imagination of a black red pile of lump, which had been used to be Simon, made him shudder.

"Yes, I saw one," he said.

The werewolves were looking at him. "How was it?"

"Just like any vampires, he could not stand the sunlight. If you stake them, they will die,"

"So they will turn into piece of shit like normal vampires,"

Alcide felt his chest getting heavier as he said, "Yeah, something like that,"

"What are we waiting for then? Let's make some stakes!"

Soon, the werewolves were busy cutting the small trees at the rand of the forest. Alcide tried to push away the thoughts about Sookie and James by keeping himself busy, making some stakes with the other werewolves. It was not more than after midnight when a pile of stakes were gathered at the parking lot.

"I am not sure about what we are doing, Alcide," said Dawson, "but I am beginning to think that I will be in a real fucking shit,"

Alcide tapped his shoulder. "You will,"

Dawson sneered. "Well, fuck me. It's about fucking time!"

For a moment Alcide thought it was one of those 'fucking expressions' that Dawson used generously, until his ears caught the sound of cars and motor cycles. He took a deep breath. The other clans obviously had decided to call the other members. They had taken James' warning seriously.

As the sound of the engines came closer, Alcide smiled. He did not know how and he did not care how, the coming of many werewolves from different clans somehow made his day. The Black Claw came with twenty of biker members; all dressed up in leather, looking grim and weathered away. The Red Eyes of Little Rock came only with ten members, but all them were strong built men with arms as big as his legs. One by one shook his hand. When Alcide felt the strength of their grips, he could only wish that they did not have to face each other any day soon. The White Fangs was the nearest Clan from the Square Stones. Alcide did not know how many members came tonight, but it looked like that Thompson had called all his members to come down. He also saw some lone wolves among the clans. He did not care how they got the news, but he was glad that they came along. His own clans brought the werepanthers from the Hotshot along.

Later that night, the owner of the Romulus Inn saw something that he had never seen before: The passing of the werewolves company, which was formed from werewolves from different clans. Something that he would tell the visitors of his inn in many years to come. Something that he believed as the sign of a new era.

* * *

Sookie forced herself to sit down and looked around. Duke the dog was in front of her, snarling to the half-life who was now lying on the ground. A chunk of meat was in the dog's mouth. The meat was black and soon turned into a piece of black gelatine. The god spat it out. The half-life was still moving as the dog jumped over him and finished his job by crushing his neck and turned him into a pile of glibbery stuff.

James stroke Duke fondly. "I knew you would find me. You are my prince," he said.

No, Duke had not found James. Luna had brought him to his master. Among the quick movement of the half-lifes and the werewolves, Sookie saw her. She had to admit, she admired how fast that woman used her gun, standing still and focused, she shot any half-life that came near her.

The werewolves were scattered around. Many of them had fallen. Their numbers were getting fewer and fewer. The Hounders were now circling Sookie and James, whilst the others fought the half-lifes.

"Victoria..." James wanted to go to her, but Doc stopped him.

"You stay in the circle, Little Brother," he said.

"I can't leave her fighting alone,"

"Yes, you can and you will," said Colin. "It's an order,"

"You can't be serious!"

"You are a Hounder now," said Colin. "Behave like one and obey!"

As much as Sookie did not like Colin's tone, she appreciated that he had done that.

Clearly James was offended, but he said, "Yes, Colin,"

"Thank you, James,"

Suddenly something flew and hit Luna's gun. The gun made 'bang' and fell somewhere. Before Luna had a chance to pick it up, a half-life jumped over her and together with her rolling on the ground.

"Victoria!" James let out a shriek. "NO!"

Duke ran and broke the circle. As if he had heard his master agony, he ran to Luna and helped her by biting the half-life's leg. But the half-life hit him as if he had been an annoying fly. One hit and the dog was thrown and hit the tree's trunk.

"NO!" James could not handle it any more and ran to break the circle. However, as soon as he touched the body of one of the Grey Hound members, the circle moved backward, and pushed James.

Sookie held James as strong as she could.

"I have to help her, Momma, she could die!"

"I know, James. But please, stay here. Luna is a trained police officer, she will be able to help herself," she said. Sookie knew James would not believe her, but she got to try.

"Listen to your momma, James," said Colin. "You will need your power to fight against them, sooner than you think,"

"Let them come," said James with tears running on his face. "I am ready,"

Suddenly, the fight stopped. The half-lifes stopped whatever they did, giving the werewolves and Luna opportunity to strike back. Some of the half-lifes fell to the ground as they were hit.

Sookie was wondering what happened as she saw Prescott standing with a long wooden stick some paces away from them. The moonlight touched his golden hair, made his figure glimmering and from his hand, something glowing dropped. For a moment, Sookie wondered what it was, then she realized that it was faery blood. Either Prescott had cut himself or had injured, Sookie was not sure. However, one thing was sure. His blood had attracted the half-lifes. Now, they turned their attention to him.

"Prescott..." Sookie heard Cooper hissing. "What are you doing?"

Like insects that had found a source of light, the half-lifes charged him without warning. Sookie closed her mouth in a horror. One bit or strike from the half-life would kill him, she was sure of it.

What Sookie did not know, the faeries, as slender as they might be, their lives were filled with exercise and training. They were trained since the day they were able to walk how to spring from tree to tree and how to move without being noticed. Their art to defend themselves, as many martial arts that were known to human, was quick and deadly. With the stick on his hands, a trained faery like Prescott was a killing machine in a way that Sookie had never seen before. He moved as elegantly as he was deadly. Cooper had experienced it. The werewolf could still feel the pain from the beaten that he had received from the faery. He could consider himself lucky, that at the day they had faced each other, Prescott had not had the intention to kill him, otherwise, he would have been buried that day.

Then something happened that neither the werewolves nor the half-lifes had expected. From behind the trees, wooden stakes flew like rain, aiming to the half-lifes' chests followed by growling and shouting. Like water that flowed from broken dam the werewolves company led by Alcide Hervaux charged the half-lifes. None of them shifted their shapes into wolves. Each of them had a stake in their hand and with that stake they attacked the half-lifes.

At the same time, as the first group of werewolves, Sookie and Eric Northman the Vampire Sheriff of Area 5 had fought against the half-lifes, Prescott the faery of Bon Temps Wood realm had met the werewolves Company led by Alcide Hervaux of the Long Tooth on his way to return to the Romulus Inn. He had seen the other group, he said to Alcide, but he had been on the move, he could not stop. Besides, Godric's son was there, he would have been able to hold the cursed beasts until they arrived there. "Better be haste," he said. "Even as powerful as his father, Godric's son will not be able to stay there too long. The sun will kill him,"

The sun would also kill the half-lifes, Alcide argued.

"Yes," said Prescott, "but the cursed beasts do not think on their own. They will stay there until they are called to return. Godric's son does. He will have left even before the sun comes out,"

"You heard him," said Alcide to the other werewolves. "Let's move on, boys. And show them what we are made of,"

As if there had been an invisible hand that whipped them, the werewolves company ran through the forest, following the faery. The ground was shaking; some small trees were stomped and pulled from the ground. Like a stampede, they destroyed anything that was on the way, sending fear and horror to the animals in the forest, forcing them to run for their lives.

The fight was on the favour of the half-lifes as they reached the place of the battle. "Prepare yourself," said the faery. "Let me distract them first,"

And the faery had been right. As soon as he had emerged from behind the trees, the half-lifes' attention was drawn to him.

The odds of the fight now had been changed. Before, it seemed the werewolves to have held their position with all their might and sooner or later they would have been defeated. Now, the half-lifes had to run for their cursed lives. Not only because the werewolves had attacked them like mad dogs, but also the sun was slowly rising at the sky, sending her deadly lights to them.

Sookie held James tightly. They were safe.


	46. Kimura Haru

**Author's Note: Thanks a lot to Bloodsucker815, who patiently beta'd this chapter.**

Chapter Forty-Five

**Kimura Haru  
**

Sam Merlotte ran his fingers through his hair.

A few steps in front of him was Amelia. She was changing Queen Sophie-Anne's clothes. Carefully the witch took off The Queen's dress, which was covered in beads and other details and changed it with a simple blue and yellow summer dress. Amelia had also washed the Queen's face and removed the heavy make-up on it. Strange, without the make-up and dress, the Queen looked young, very young. Sam wondered how old she had been when she was turned. Fourteen, perhaps?

Sam took a deep breath. Seeing her like that – sweet and friendly; somehow soothed his anger. Honestly, he did not even know why he had been angry with her in the first place.

Amelia was a witch and she had not told him. She probably would have never told him, if the vampires had not caught her.

Sam was not sure if he had been angry with her because she was a witch or because she had known that he was a shifter and yet she had not said anything about it. On second thought, she might not have had the chance or the courage to say it. They had fucked each other until the morning came at their first meeting. The greatest fuck he had had after for such a long time. His cock had been burning when he had gone to the bathroom to pee and his back had ached. Besides, who would go on saying something like, 'Hi, my name is Amelia and I am a witch.'? It would have sounded like an AA meeting or worse, a direct invitation to a room in a mental institution.

Sam sneered.

Amelia was putting the Queen to bed now. By doing so, intentionally or not, her ass was directed to him.

Sam wiped off his mouth. Even now, with anger, which was not completely gone, he wanted to grab her and fuck her somewhere in the corner. That ass...

Suddenly Amelia turned around. Her eyes looked at him angrily. _What? _She mouthed.

_Hey_! _I should be the one who's angry, _Sam thought, _not you!_

After covering the Queen with the blanket, Amelia gave him a sign to follow her.

"What?" Sam asked as they were out of the room.

"Can you stop eye balling me when I am working? It is unnerving!"

"Oh please..."

"What? I caught you watching my ass!"

"So what?" Sam crossed his hand in front of his chest. "I saw you naked before, what is the problem?"

Her eyes grew bigger. "You are not angry with me any more?"

"How did you get that idea?" Sam tried to keep his face straight, but useless. Seeing Amelia standing in front of him with big eyes like that made him want to smile and he did.

Amelia grinned, "Good. You will eat at my place tonight?"

"Maybe,"

"I am very good at making tortillas."

"I said, maybe."

"I heard you." She opened the door. Her grin got wider. "I'll take the dirty clothes out, and then we'll talk, okay?"

Two days they had been together watching over the Queen. They had the noon shift, which was from noon until around six or seven o'clock in the evening, depended on when the sun went down. Three members of the Long Tooth clan watched the queen from dawn until noon and the vampires got the night time.

Nothing had happened much. The Queen looked more like a vegetable than a vampire queen. Sam did not know how she was in the night time, and honestly, he did not care. The only reason that he had agreed to watch over her was Sookie. He had promised to help her find out about the True Blood factory and for Alcide's sake. Whatever the content of the new True Blood was, the vampires – or at least the Queen, did not react well to it. If the Queen, who was old and mighty, did not react well to the new True Blood, Sam did not want to imagine how the younger or weaker vampires would react. Secondly, the werewolves had something to do with the production of the True Blood. IF – big if, the vampires found out about it, there would be blood. And in the middle of that blood spilling would be Alcide, Sookie and James. He was more concerned about Alcide . Sookie and James had Eric. Despite his disliking toward the vampire, Sam believed Eric would do anything to protect his woman and son. Alcide, on the other hand, had to choose between protecting the woman that he loved and his clan.

Amelia opened the door. "I'll take this down." She said holding up some dirty laundry. "It won't take long." She smiled. "We really need to talk, Sammy!"

Sam smirked. Sammy, what a way to call him!

Amelia walked away from him and she disappeared as she turned around the corner.

Sam looked at his watch. It was a quarter to five now. Soon the vampires would replace them. The Berts brothers – that's how he called the Queen's twin bodyguards would come some minutes after the sun went down and Pam would come short afterwards. Chow would come too, but normally he would come much later. Chow rarely entered the Leclreq facility. He would stand outside and watch every single person who entered and left the building, just like a bar's bouncer.

He did not like the situation. Two days had gone and nothing happened. He could not reach either Sookie or Alcide. Where were they? What had happened to them? More than that, what had happened to James?

_Poor boy, _thought Sam. _What will happen to him if they find out?_

The werewolves wanted him; perhaps the vampires would want him too if they knew. Sam did not know what James Stackhouse was capable of, but he was damn sure that he meant a lot for the werewolves. He saw how the Hounders or even how the Herveaux's looking at James. There were a mix between curiosity and fear. Why did they fear him? He was just a boy!

Sam's thoughts about James were soon pushed away as Amelia returned. Her chocolate scent made him hungry, horny and at the same time pissed. He was hungry because since lunch he had not had anything to eat; horny for the chocolate scent and Amelia's own scent reminded him of how it was kissing her body and pissed that even at the time like this, he could not stop thinking about having sex with her.

Amelia leaned on the wall. "What do you think will happen?" Her voice sounded worried. "If the vampires stop drinking True Blood, I mean."

To be honest, Sam did not want to think about it. He did not want to have vampires running around sucking human blood.

"There must be a reason behind this. Nobody would poison a vampire queen for nothing. Perhaps they want to send a message, you know, how bad it is for vampires to drink True Blood. They'd better stop doing it, otherwise they would end up like the Queen."

"You have a very positive mind," said Sam sarcastically.

"I know," she rolled some of her hair with her index finger and slowly let it unroll. "But as a shifter, you should have been worried."

"Why?"

"Sooner or later they will come after you. They already have started with the werewolves. The shifters will be next ..."

"...or witches."

"Or witches."

Both of them were silent.

The thought was not very soothing, to be honest. It sounded more like paranoia. And who was this 'they' that Amelia had mentioned anyway?

"How do you know that they have started with the werewolves?" Sam tried to push away the thoughts that 'they' might have started thinking of chasing shifters.

"I heard."

"From whom?"

"Here and there." Amelia looked around, and then she whispered, "Some witches are also werewolves. Don't you know that?"

Sam wiped off his mouth. No, he had not known that.

"I heard they did terrible things to the werewolves. They tortured them and turned them into vampires."

"What?" Sam looked at Amelia.

"I saw one of the werewolf witches that was turned into a vampire. She did not look pretty." Amelia shuddered.

"How could they be turned into vampires? Didn't they need vampires to do that?"

"I don't know." Amelia looked at her watch. "Perhaps you can ask them when they come. I don't want to get involved with them. I have enough problem of my own."

She avoided someone, Sam knew that. Her teacher, so she said. Somehow Sam had a feeling, it was more than that. But he decided not to ask.

The vampires came not long after the sun went down. Sam did not know where the Bert Brothers slept, but it couldn't be too far because they always arrived first shortly after twilight. He even wondered sometimes, if those two ever fed.

Pam dressed up in red today. Bright red leather dress, red pumps and a huge black cross pendant with red stones in the middle of it. Her voluptuous lips were also bright red. And she did not come alone. An Asian man walked by her side. He wore a black t-shirt with a picture of some kind of metal music groups. His hair was standing like a hedgehog's; there was a big silver ring pierced through his nose, a dog collar around his neck and Sam could not help but threw his eyes at the man's hand and saw to his surprise nothing. He had expected some kind of chain or something.

Those two seemed like a pair of teenagers who wanted to go to some kind of metal music concert.

He was introduced as Kimura Haru. And he looked for Eric.

"Did you hear anything from Sookie or the werewolf?" asked Pam.

She must have meant Alcide when she had said 'the werewolf'. Sam shook his head.

"Nothing from James?"

Sam swore that for a moment, he had heard a sound of concern in her voice. But that cold expressionless face made him doubt his own ears.

"It is very important to get in touch with Eric-san," said Haru. "I can't discuss what I know without his presence."

"Whatever it is that you know, you can discuss with me," said Sam. Amelia shot him a warning look. And Sam realized why. Suddenly the vampires turned to him and they were in alert position. Their arms were stiff and their hands formed into claws. Had he said something wrong?

"They are here," said Siegbert.

"Who?" asked Sam, confused.

"You'd better take Haru-sensei out of here, Sam," said Pam. "They must not know that Haru-sensei is here."

"Pam-san," Haru touched her hand. "I work for all of you. I think it's only fair that they also know that I am here. It's for the benefit of all of you."

"Sensei," Pam bowed a little, "please, Eric would not be happy if he found out that I did not follow his order. He doesn't want you to have any contact with any of them."

"Who is 'them'?" Sam could not stand it any more.

"The King's men," said Pam. "Go, Sam. Take Haru-sensei now!"

"What? How? I can't face those vampires alone!"

"Come!" said Amelia. "I know how!"

Almost running, Sam followed Amelia, who to his surprise walked fast, so fast that it looked as if she was sliding in the air. Haru ran behind them. As soon as they reached the upper floor, Amelia took them to a room with a big sign on its door. LAUNDRY ROOM..

Amelia pushed Haru inside and said to Sam, "Come, Sam!"

Sam entered the room and closed the door. The room was full with dirty laundry and some boxes of detergent and other chemicals.

"Shift yourself!" said Amelia.

"What?"

"Shift into something. Mosquito, fly, whatever!"

Haru looked at him. His small eyes grew bigger. "Fascinating," he said. "I have never seen a shifter change."

"If you think..."

"The only way to protect you from the vampires is when you are on my body," Amelia cut his sentence. "My power is not strong enough to protect you and Mr. Haru."

"It's Mr. Kimura, if you want to call me with my surname. Haru is my first name."

"Okay, Mr. Kimura," said Amelia. She was getting impatient. "I don't have much time, Sam. Come on!"

Sam growled. He hated to change in front of anybody. He did not feel secure. _So be it, _he thought. _There's always a first time. _

Within a blink of an eye, Sam Merlotte changed into a mosquito. His clothes fell to the ground as his body shrank. In his eyes everything had become gigantic. Amelia's scent became stronger and more intoxicating.

He flew and landed on Amelia's neck. The neck, which he had kissed vigorously, looked like a street. Her pores were big and from them the chocolate aroma poured out like hot steam coming out of a kettle.

Suddenly he heard Amelia's voice. Like the sound of the wind when a tornado was coming nearer, it was getting louder and louder. He did not understand a word that she was saying, but it sounded soothing. Then, some moment later, everything was quiet.

Amelia started moving.

Cold wind blew as she passed by the vampires. Her skin popped up like the bubbles that came out on the fat from beef or bacon when it was being fried. Amelia was either scared or feeling cold. It was not a good sign. Amelia had to calm down; otherwise, the vampires would notice it.

"Addison," Sam heard Pam's voice, "what a surprise." Her voice was cold and cynical. Obviously she was not happy to see this Addison guy. "I expected someone else."

"So, you are here. You know that Northman and his dogs are not welcomed here."

"Really? Since when am I a dog to you?"

Addison did not answer.

"Leave, Pam," another voice talked to Pam. "This is a State matter; you are not entitled to know."

"André."

Suddenly Sam heard the sounds of several 'clicks'.

"Siegbert, mein Bruder." Then, Sam heard André speaking in a foreign language, probably German, since he knew that the Bert Brothers had been Saxony warriors before they were turned.

Amelia started moving again. Their voices were slowly getting lower and lower. As much as Sam was glad to leave the spot, he was curious as to what they were talking about. Hopefully Pam would give him the heads-up tomorrow.

"Sam," Sam heard Amelia's voice. "We're clear now."

Sam took off from Amelia's skin and shifted himself back to his human form.

"Fascinating," said Haru. "I've always wondered how you did it."

Sam snatched his clothes from Amelia's hand. They were outside the building already. Haru had put a white jacket on over his t-shirt. His trousers were also white. A name tag was on his jacket, "Barnsley". He knew some Barnsleys, but none of them looked like this one.

"What was that all about?" asked Amelia. "Why did we have to take you out of there, Mr. Haru-san?"

"I am the inventor of True Blood."

"What?" Both Amelia and Sam looked at him, shocked. This tiny man was the inventor of True Blood and he said it as if it had been nothing!

"Yes. I had discovered the formula around 16 years ago and Eric Northman was one of the vampires that tested it."

"Moment..." suddenly the hair on the back of his neck were standing. "If you found it 16 years ago...how old are you?"

"I will be forty-five in three months," said Haru. Sam's jaw dropped. Haru still looked like as if he had been in his twenties. "Oh, don't look at me like that, Mr. Merlotte. I don't discover any formula for staying young... not yet, maybe next time. This is the result of Ki and Ryoho yoga, Japanese tea and a lot of sake."

* * *

Sam took Haru straight to the Haven. His instinct told him it would be better for everybody if Haru was protected. He believed that Amelia could handle one or two vampires, but not a bunch of them and especially not the vampires like André Paul or whoever Addison was. His gut told him that those vampires were too strong and too dangerous for her.

"You have to change your name," said Amelia.

"Why?" asked Haru.

"Since you are the reason for their coming out, I think every vampire knows your name. I am not sure if all of them know your face, but surely they know your name."

"I never thought of that," said Haru. "I spend my days mostly in my lab or my club. I don't go out often."

"What is it that you want to tell Northman anyway? And why doesn't Pam want them to see you?"

Haru looked at him. His youthful face was suddenly covered with lines as he was saying, "I found a new and unknown substance in the sample of True Blood that Eric-san sent to me. I am afraid, if they continue using the new True Blood, I can only see darkness in the vampires' future."

"What substances?"

"I cannot say. I must meet Eric-san and discuss it with him. Only with him. I am responsible for the invention of True Blood, it is my obligation to make it right."

"Why Eric Northman? You can tell no other vampires?"

"Eric Northman was one of my experimental subjects," said Haru. "And he was dead for fifteen years. His body has not yet been polluted with the True Blood that has been marketed for the last two years."

"I believe Northman has been drinking True Blood now and then."

"Perhaps, but not in the same amount like other vampires. And if he had stopped drinking it before he sent me the True Blood, it means his body would be clean again. I want to compare his and the Queen's blood to put the last part of the puzzle together."

Sam did not like the sound of it; he did not like it at all. "What will happen to them...the vampires, I mean?"

"I can't say, Sam-san. I really can't. But I fear for their future."

Sam and Amelia looked at each other. It was clear to him now that Amelia's fear to be the next prey was not only a paranoia. They had to be stopped; whoever they were.

The ships' horns filled the air, a sign for them that the Haven was nearer. But for Sam, it was as if Angel Gabriel himself had blown the trumpet and gave a sign that the destruction was coming and when it reached Bon Temps, it would not be so kind.


	47. Entering the Square Stones

**Author's Note: Thanks to Bloodsucker815 for her correction and notes. It really means a lot to me, Blood! **

Forty-six

**Entering the Square Stones  
**

Sookie looked up above and desperately tried to find a glimpse of sunlight, but the thickness of the leaves blocked most of it, and only letting the sun through here and there. . She did not know what time it was and her watch, which was covered by black blood, could not show her the time. It must have been morning already. She heard the sound of birds somewhere and the fresh wind that touched her skin brought the heat of summer days.

"Are you all right, Sook?" Alcide's voice made her turn around. He was standing some steps away from her. His face was hard, but he looked relieved. Sookie couldn't help but notice that there were blood-stains everywhere. On his face, neck, hands... "Sook?"

Sookie nodded.

"I think you'd better wash your face," he said. "It will make you feel better."

"Yeah," she said aimlessly.

"There is a little stream over there," he pointed to the North, "I'll take you there. Come on!"

Sookie looked around. There were bodies everywhere and that stuff that had been half-life before...James! Where was James? "James..." she said. "I have to find James..."

"James is all right," said Alcide. "He's with Luna now. Don't worry, Sookie. The Hounders are taking good care of him. Come on! Trust me, some fresh water on your face and you will feel better."

Without protesting, Sookie let Alcide take her hand and lead her to the little stream that he mentioned earlier. He told her not to look around just focus on him. There were things that she would be better not to see. "What things," she asked. "The rest of the fight from last night," he said. It was not pretty. "Just close your eyes, if it makes you feel better." She wanted to say that she was not a coward, of course she could handle all those things. She had seen them before, but then she realized, she had seen the rest of battle or war on TV. She had never seen it in real life. Alcide had told her about the fight in Bon Temps wood fifteen years ago, but she had actually never seen it. Perhaps, it was better that way.

After walking for quite a while, they reached the little stream. It ran between the trees without any sound. Its clear water touched every root and the shape of the ground quietly. Alcide asked her to sit down under a tree, which had a spot of grass under it.

Sookie took of her shoes and put her feet in. She sighed as the fresh water caressed them, and as if she had found new energy, her feelings overwhelmed her; the feelings of being afraid – terrified, to be exact, as the half-life had been on her and almost bitten her if Duke had not jumped on it at the right moment; being helpless – seeing all those werewolves and half-lifes fight against each other, realizing she would not have been able to fight back if the half-lifes had won the battle; and frustrated – knowing that Eric would not be able to do anything during the day. Without being able to stop herself, she cried. She knew, she should have not done it. She should have been stronger facing it. James needed her more than ever. She should have been stronger, but as if her tears and her own strength wanted to deny her wishes. Her cry was even louder.

"Hey, hey...Sookie..." Alcide took her in his arms. "Ssst..."

"Everything will be all right, Sook." Sookie felt a soft kiss on her head. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you or to James." He held her tight. "You don't have to worry, I am here."

Sookie held him back. She needed somebody, something to hold, to make her feel not so alone , to tell her that she would be able to face whatever would come tonight.

_Na, na, Sookie..._Claudine's soft and sing song voice was in her head. _I'm here, Darling..._

Slowly, Sookie raised her face. Alcide's face looked blurry, but she could see that he was smiling. She didn't say anything when his warm finger wiped off the tears. She even let him kissing her eyes, her nose, and his lips were very close to hers when suddenly he pulled back his face. "I am sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to..." Sookie could hear his heart beat faster. She let her hug go. Slowly she raised stood up and brushed off the dirt from her trousers. "I want to wash my face," she said, trying to act as normal as possible. She realized, they could have kissed each other and she would have not done anything against it. It had been peaceful in his arm. She felt as if nothing would have been able to harm her.

"Yeah, you do that," said Alcide, getting to his feet.

The water was soft and tasted sweet as Sookie splashed her face with it. The dirt and the blood stains cleared as she washed them. Shortly, the clear water became black, but before Sookie could grab it, the water again was clear. She could see her face on it now. It looked tired and weary. She sighed. She looked older within days. The lines which were there were getting stronger now. Eric Northman, she thought. A month with him, and he was able to make her feel ten years younger, but to look ten years older.

When Sookie turned to Alcide, he was not alone any more. Jack and one of the werewolves were there, talking very low to him. "We have a traitor, Al," she heard Jack whispering. "We have to find him."

_Traitor... _Sookie thought. _Larry is the traitor, at least according to James._

_Don't say a word. _Suddenly she heard Alcide's voice. _I can see it on your face that you know him. Don't say a word about it. Not now._

Sookie walked toward Alcide. She was too tired to play games now. She was not going to pretend any more. If they asked, she would answer it. James' safety was more important than anything else. She looked at Alcide. "Can we go now?"

Jack looked hesitated. "You'd better wait here for a moment, Sook," he said.

"What for?"

Jack cleared his throat, "Ehm...we're cleaning up."

"Cleaning...up?"

"There are bodies to bury, Sookie," Alcide looked at her with an apologetic look in his eyes. "I should have told you earlier. Some werewolves who got bitten, are deteriorating at the moment. We have to bury them as soon as possible. It looks like that they are already turning into vampires."

"That fast?"

The werewolves looked thoughtful. "It worries me," the werewolf, whose name remained unknown to Sookie, said. "The Sheriff needs to explain how a vampire is made. It's too fast. There is something unnatural going on, and I don't like it."

A werewolf talked about something unnatural...it had to be the new world that Sookie was living in.

Alcide and Jack looked at each other. Clearly they looked uncomfortable. Something hit Sookie's mind. They _knew _how long it took for a werewolf to become a vampire. Simon had turned into a vampire around a month ago. She was certain that the Long Tooth would not let Simon out of their sights. They must have observed the changing that Simon had gone through.

"I can ask the Sheriff," Sookie tried to draw the man's attention to her. "But I can't promise you anything because we never talk about it." Once, just once, Eric had asked her if she wanted to be turned. Once, after they had sex for the first time, on the cold floor in his study room. After that, they had not talked about it any more. Sookie did not know how a vampire was made, and to be honest, she did not want to know.

"Fair enough," said the man. "I'll tell the others."

After waiting for a while, Alcide finally said that they could return to the gathering point. He avoided Sookie's gaze as he walked beside her. He hid something and Sookie did not want to break his trust by peeping into his thought. She could and somehow she believed she should.

The smell of deterioting flesh caught her nose as they were getting nearer. Somewhere, somebody said in his head, _I can't see this. He's my brother. I have to get out of here..._Then she heard screams of agony. "No! Please, I want to live! NO!" Sookie looked at Alcide to get an answer, but he turned away. "Alcide? What's going on? What are they doing?"

"We are...cleaning up, Sookie," said Jack, avoiding her gaze.

"What do you mean with cleaning up...Jesus!" Sookie stepped back. _Cleaning up...they are killing the werewolves who got bitten. _"James is there! How can you let him see it, Alcide!" she walked away from them and started running. "How can you...?"

"Sookie!" Alcide ran after her.

Sookie felt as though there was a chain around her ankles, because it seemed that she could not run fast enough to reach James. She could not believe that Alcide let him witnessing such an act. James was just a boy, a member of a werewolf clan or not, he was just a boy! Boys – children, should not watch any violence or know any violence! God! How stupid could she be! They asked Alcide to take her away from the gathering point so that they could perform this cruelty, this crime! And as naïve as she had always been, she had taken the bait without questioning!

"Sookie, stop! Please!" Suddenly Alcide had her in his arms. "Please! You don't want to see it!"

"And you let James watch it?" she fought Alcide with her feet and hands. She hit his chest with her elbows, tried to break his grip, even kicked his legs, but nothing happened. Alcide was like a rock, standing there without moving. Tears ran on her face.

"The Hounders had taken him far from there before they started, Sookie. He didn't see anything. He won't know what happened."

"But he can hear them!"

"No, Sookie. They took him far enough so that he will not be able to hear them."

"He can hear what they are thinking! If those werewolves are changing into vampires, he can hear what they are saying in their heads!"

All of sudden, Alcide's grip loosened. Sookie wanted to continue running now that she was free when she realized what she had just said. She turned around and saw, not only Alcide, but also the other werewolves, standing with a shocking look on their faces. Sookie closed her eyes. Jesus, what had she done?

"James...it was James that Simon had heard..." Alcide's voice sounded as if he had been thinking out loud. It was frantic and sombre.

_This is good. _Sookie heard the unknown werewolf speaking in his head. _I have to tell Keane. This means a lot of money if the vampires know that the boy can hear their thoughts._

"No!" Instinctively, Sookie drew the marriage dagger that she had in her hips and pointed it at the werewolf. "You will not tell anybody about James!"

Alcide and Jack looked at Sookie and then at the man. "What did you say, Sookie?"

"He wants to tell Keane about it; he wants to sell James to the vampires!"

The werewolf spat. "You believe this fangbanger, Al..." his sentence was cut off as Jack in his wolf form jumped on him and bit his neck. Blood sprayed out from his neck as he fell to the ground. His eyes were open with shock and then slowly lost their light. His body moved for a moment before finally it was still. The werewolf, whose name was never spoken to her, had died in front of her. Sookie felt her body trembled. Her hand moved uncontrollably.

Alcide came to her and opened his arms when he said, "The dagger...he doesn't break it..."

Sookie looked at the dagger, "No, we don't."

Alcide turned his back around and started to walk away. "Let's hope that they finish already," he said. His voice sounded icy. "I don't want to be here too long ."

"What about him?" asked Jack. He was already in his human form. His trousers were on but his red lumber jack shirt was not yet completely buttoned up.

"Leave him," said Alcide. "The wild animals will take care of him."

* * *

The smell of deterioting flesh forced Sookie to close her nose. She did not see anything any more. The werewolves must have moved very fast in burying the dead ones or killing the wounded one. The soil was black from the half-lifes' blood. Here and there were stains of fresh blood and some werewolves sat on the ground or on the root of a tree, covering their faces. Some women were sobbing, whilst the men were standing with hard faces.

_That bitch and her brood. They brought nothing but misery!_

_How will I tell Mother? God, how will I tell her that I was the one who killed him?_

_Can't we leave already? This fucking place gives me the creeps!_

Sookie closed her eyes and tried not to cry. Her chest was heavy from the feelings that were raging inside. She wanted to scream that she had nothing to do with all of this. Her son had been made of love. He was not a curse, not to her or to anybody else. Neither she nor James asked to have such a gift.

_Eric...Eric..._

She whispered his name in her thought. How much she wanted him to be here so that she could bury herself in his strong arms and cold body. How much she wanted to have the feeling of sanctuary, that for just a moment she could tell herself it was all right to explode, because Eric would have been standing there, like a rock in the middle of an ocean, cold and expressionless. She did not want to be expressionless like this. She wanted to scream, to cry or even to say a word that she did not want all of these.

James was standing under a tree, held by Victoria, surrounded by the Hounders. Duke was beside his master, rubbing his head to James' leg, as if he wanted to tell his master that he was there. The Hounders or what left of them – Colin and his lieutenants, six other members, looked hard. Mary-Star, the only woman among them did not cry or sob. She looked as tough as her clan brothers.

When James let himself go, Sookie could see that his eyes were swollen. He must have cried. As their eyes met, Sookie forced herself to smile, to encourage him. Strangely, he did not say anything, not even in his head.

"Sookie," a soft voice made her turnaround. Crystal Norris. She was standing some steps behind her. Beside her was Jason. Her brother looked not only dirty, but also bloody. "Please, come with us. We can protect you better."

"I don't want to be separated from James," Sookie said.

"Then we group ourselves with them," Norris said. "I will not leave you and James alone this time." then he snarled. His voice was deep and could be mistaken as a panther's snarl. His eyes were suddenly yellowish. His face was very close to hers. "Be careful, Sookie. You can't trust werewolves. I sense traitors among them. Don't let them bury their claws too deep into your son's body. He will not be able to leave them, and you will be sorry because of it."

The sun was high in the sky, as the groups began to move slowly. The light that touched the tips of the leaves looked hot and merciless. Some leaves had shown yellowish tints on their surfaces, a sign that autumn was coming. However, the air was dry and the soil under her feet was covered by wild grass and untouched bushes; it seemed the forest did not want to let the autumn stop it from growing.

Sookie loved autumn, where the leaves had many colours. The bright orange and yellow of maple trees, strong reddish brown leaves of oak, and many times green, yellow and red leaves of many trees, which names were unknown to her. If she walked down the streets of Baton Rouge, and watched the wind blowing the leaves, she felt as if she had return to the Bon Temps woods. The image of Eric circling around a tree in a green tunic always managed to draw a smile on her face. And under that very tree, they had made love. Yes, under that very tree, James had been created.

Sookie sighed. Even during this time of trouble, her mind could not be free from Eric and Bon Temps. She wanted both of them to go away, to leave her alone so that she could concentrate on James. But both of them were stubborn and as much as she wanted to deny it, she loved both of them.

"Sookie," out of nowhere, Colin was suddenly walking beside her. Perhaps it was his skill as a werewolf to sneak around to catch his preys, or perhaps it had been her mind that had been far away had made her not noticing anything around her. "We are entering the Square Stones area."

"Good."

Colin looked hesitating. "If you can't enter, I will stay behind with you, until one of the Elder give you the permission."

"What do you mean I can't enter? It's just part of the forest, isn't it?"

"No," he said. "It's protected by the elders with some spells, you know, to prevent the human hunters to enter the area and ruin it. Any human who enters the circle of Square Stones will see nothing, but meadow. It will force them to turnaround because they will think that they entered a never ending prairie."

But she was not one hundred percent human.

Sookie decided not to tell him. "Okay," she said. "I will wait for Eric and so will James."

Colin nodded. "You tell me if you see the meadow. I will tell the other to stop."

What should she tell him if she did not see the meadow? What would she answer if Colin and the others asked who or what she was?

Before she could think any further, Calvin Norris and one of his men came walked beside Colin. "How long will we stay there, Purefoy?" asked Norris.

"Two days, maximum."

"The shorter we stay here, the better it will be," said Norris. "You must have known, there's a traitor among you."

Colin looked at him. His eyes flashed dangerously. "I know," he said quietly. "I am more worried than you are; in case you don't notice."

Norris sniffed. "What about the security premises? We can't afford to have any possibility that the traitor might be able to contact the outsiders."

"Nobody can contact any outsiders, trust me. Modern technology is useless at that place. No satellite connection, no electricity. Even radio works only in short distance. We are safe, Norris. Don't worry about it."

"No, I am not worried," Norris touched his nose. "I am being careful."

The rest of journey was easier for Sookie. People started talking with normal voices again and not whispering. The looks that they had given her earlier were getting friendlier and friendlier. She even heard James laughing. She knew, she should be angry with Luna because she had broken her promise not to get near James again, but Sookie gave her an exception this time. It is a hard time for everybody, especially for James. He was the one who would face whatever tests the werewolves had in their minds. As she turned around to see what they were doing, Sookie saw James putting his arm around Luna's shoulder, meanwhile Luna wrapping her arm around his hip. Ignoring everybody else, James kissed her, who with the same enthusiasm kissed him back. They would have probably continued kissing, if Doc had not said something like 'break it up, kids!' and murmured something about the enemy and the journey.

"Sorry, Sook." said Colin.

"For what?"

Colin moved his head to James and Luna's direction. "I know that you don't like them..."

"It's okay," Sookie cut it. "It's not the time to talk about it, Colin. I think you and I know that Luna is the best thing that could happen to him right now."

"Yes, and she saved both of you. I think we should cut them some slack."

Sookie did not see another way either.

The sun was low in the west sky, as the group stopped. Alcide came to her and told her that they were not so far from the Square Stones. She told him what Colin had said that she might not be able to enter the Square Stones. Alcide looked at her and then flatly he said, "I think you can."

"Why?"

His green eyes flickered. In his head he said, _there are many things about you and your son that I know nothing about. I won't be surprised if you can enter the Square Stones. Who knows what runs through your veins?_

Was Alcide angry with her? She could not possibly tell him about James. It had been a secret that should have been buried forever! Sookie sighed. If she could have turned back the clock, and unmade what had happened at the stream, she would have done it! "Al..." her sentence was cut off, as Alcide raised his hands. "Not now, Sook. Not now." Then, he walked away. His tall figure continued walking, passing James by without saying any word. James followed him with his stare, before he went to Sookie. Duke followed him faithfully. Luna walked some steps away behind him.

"What was that all about?" asked James. "Why does Alcide look angry?"

Sookie bit her lips. She did not know how to tell James about what happened back there at the stream.

_Something to do with me? _The voice in James' head was loud enough for her to hear. She nodded. _What? _"Something to do with vampires," she whispered, "and mind reading."

James turned his head to Alcide's direction, but he was not there any more. James knew what she had meant. "Do you trust him, Mom?"

Sookie did not like the sound of his voice. It was so Eric. It was calm, but the threatening tone couldn't be misheard. James was willing to do anything to protect his secret, even when it meant he had to harm Alcide. "Don't do anything crazy," she said.

"You don't answer my question," he said.

"Watch out your tone, young man!" warned Sookie. "Alcide is your wolf-father. If there's somebody whom you shall not doubt, then it will be him."

"I have to do what I have to do," he fingered his hair. "I trust him as long as he can be trusted."

What was wrong with James? Why was he suddenly acting...different.

"He's worried, Mrs. Stackhouse," said Luna, as James left her and went to Cooper.

"About what?"

"You, me, and everybody else," she said. "He told me, he felt as if somebody was watching us. He could not see what or whom, but he felt it. It makes him...jumpy."

Well, certainly he was not jumpy enough that he could kiss Luna whenever he wanted. Sookie looked at her. Luna had some bruises here and there. On her arms was dark bluish bruises, which looked like claws. The half-life must have grabbed her arms very strongly last night. "How are you, Lu..Victoria?"

"I'm okay," she said. "Still weak, but after a nights sleep, I will be fine."

"Thank you," said Sookie. "For helping us, and for Duke."

"Don't mention it, Mrs..."

"Sookie. Call me Sookie."

Luna smiled.

"I still don't like seeing you and James together," Sookie continued quickly, wiping the smile off Luna's face. "But I think I will give you exception this time."

Luna's face was tensed. "I will never harm him in any way; I can promise you that."

"I believe you."

"Thank you."

"Because if you do, Eric and I will come to get you."

Luna's face paled, but she did not say anything.

The trees were higher and closer as they went farther to the South. Sookie felt as if they entered some kind of fortress, only the walls were made of trees. There was no light coming through. The thickness of the leaves high above had prevented any light from getting through. The soil was wet; the bushes were high up to her knees. Sookie looked around, and she saw that the weres' eyes were yellowish. Except Luna. Her eyes were orange. James, who walked beside Cooper looked restless. He looked around and sometimes squeezed his eyes as if he wanted to make himself certain that he had not seen something. What was this place?

A loud howl stopped the group from moving. One by one the werewolves gathered themselves, perhaps according to their clans because Sookie saw the members of The Grey Hounders went to Colin and stood around him. James looked at her for a moment, before he also went to Colin. On his face there was a faint smile. Only Luna and she stood alone.

"You are not welcome!" suddenly a loud noise was heard. "Leave or die!"

Sookie was sure that the threat had been directed at her, when she saw a green shadow jumped from one of the trees' branch. It moved so elegantly that for a moment she thought she had seen a big leaf falling down. As the shadow landed on the ground with a stick on his hand, she realized who he was. Prescott. And from behind the trees, a white figure moved forward. Her figure was small, but shimmering. It might be because of her clothes and hair were white, or her pale face, but she was shimmering, sending a menacing aura all over the place. The werewolves bowed a little, greeting her with their snarls and growls. That woman did not want to have Prescott here? Why? But to her surprise, the woman walked toward the Grey Hounders, who one by one moved away until she faced James.

"A faery, a wolf and a vampire...if I ever smelt dirtier blood than yours, then I'd cut my own throat."

Without being able to control herself, Sookie moved toward her. Whoever she was, Sookie would not let somebody insult her son, or her. "He also has human blood. So why don't you cut your throat now?"


	48. Under the Full Circle

Chapter Forty-seven

**Under the Full Circle**

Sookie swears that she has watched over 4,000 movies in her life, almost around 2,000 of them are horror. She has seen many scary scenes are played over and over again, sometimes they scare her, but most of the time she laughed to see how stupid they look. Either it is about vampires, werewolves, zombies or some silly creatures from a lagoon, which name she can't pronounce; she thought she had seen them all.

Until now.

In front of her was the woman with the white hair. James stood closely right behind her. She did not know if the Hounders were also behind her, but she could hear thoughts so loud and clear that she had to force herself to concentrate only on the woman with the white hair. It looked somehow out of place that a woman with a body like a bikini model was standing in the middle of the woods surrounded by werewolves. She looked like she was in the end of her twenties or early thirties. But her face was hard and cold. There were no traces of smile at all on it; and the eyes that had the colour of amber shone coldly sent out thousands of needles and made Sookie shiver. Sookie pushed those feelings away. That woman may not know that she had such a feeling.

"So, you are the mother," that woman said. Her amber eyes explored Sookie with a disgusted feeling that she did not hide.

"Yes, I am the mother," said Sookie. Her blood was boiling. There was an urge in her to jump on her and slap her face.

"You realize how...," suddenly she stopped. Her eyes, for a short moment looked blank. Then, she shook her head.

From behind her, Sookie heard James' thought. _You will show some respect to my mother! _Sookie wanted to turn around to tell him to stop whatever he was doing, but she changed her mind as soon as she had realized that by telling him, she would reveal that James could tell dogs and wolves to do his biding.

"How dare you!" That woman hissed. Her eyes were now at James. Slowly she moved forward. "How dare you to use your power..."

_Step back, wolf! Now! Or my brothers will make you._

This time, Sookie turned around and saw the Hounders were in alerting position. Their hands and faces were covered with gray hair and their arms were spread with hands formed like claws. Sookie shuddered. Jesus, what had James done?

"Enough." A calm voice stopped the woman and the Hounders from moving toward each other. Three figures came out from behind the trees. When they were nearer, Sookie could see that they were one man and two women.

One of the men reached out his hand. "James Stackhouse, it's about the time to meet you, young man."

James did not accept that hand. "You are not a werewolf," he said in a matter-of-a-fact voice.

"I am not. I am a witch. Our Warlock wants to see you. Alone." He emphasized the word alone as if he had wanted to tell anybody not to follow.

"Richard..." the woman with the white hair looked at him.

That man raised his hand and the woman stopped her sentence. "It must be done, Hallow." Then, he turned around and walked away. "It's your choice, young man. But you'd better be hurried." The other two followed him and shiftily they moved farther away.

James looked at Sookie and when he saw her nodding, he ran after them. Sookie knew, it might not be a good idea to let him go, but James had the right to know why he was called to come to this place. If whoever asked him to come had answers, better than any of these werewolves could give, then so be it.

Now, she only had to wait for James to return, and for the night to come. Eric would be here. Suddenly she felt better already.

xxxxx

The moon could not get through the thickness of the leaves of the trees in the Square Stones woods. Only some of her soft ray of lights managed to escape the net of the leaves and created soft pillar here and there. When a pale figure literally fell down from the trees, the shadows of people under the trees jumped on their feet, alerted.

Eric Northman, a vampire, Sheriff of Area 5 Shreveport Louisiana moved his head, set his hair to dance in the air by doing so, stood firmly on the ground with arms formed like claws. Sookie could not see clearly, but she was certain, his fangs were out. "James is not here," his voice was growling.

"The Elders took him to the peak, Sheriff," said Colin. "It won't be long anymore."

_It'd better be_, thought Sookie. They had been waiting there, on a place where they had been since afternoon, slowly, she lost her patience. Nobody was dared to answer her question if they could go there and see what was going on with James. Nobody was even dared to move! The woman with the white hair had been long gone. Sookie did not know where she had gone, and frankly, she did not care. Prescott told her to be patience. Any sudden or hectic decision would not good for anybody. Those people were witches and sorcerer. They were influenced by moods and desires, it would be better for them not to act against them, at least for the moment.

"Godric's son," Prescott came to him, "there is something I have to tell you..."

Eric sniffed. "Witches. You let him alone with witches?" he said, almost screamed. Sookie realized his sentence was directed to her. "You should have known better that they can't be trusted!"

The werewolves growled. It was clear that Eric's sentence had offended them. Slowly they moved forward toward Eric. Instinctively, Sookie went to Eric. Whatever happened, she did not want to be too far from him. Prescott and Luna did the same. Prescott even took out his stick.

_Why don't we shoot him with the stake? It will end our misery._

One of the thoughts clearly rang in her head. Sookie moved and put herself in front of Eric. As if Luna had known what it meant, she did the same. She stood behind Eric facing the werewolves. Prescott took the right side of Eric. And out of nowhere, Jason jumped out from the darkness to take Eric's left side.

"What is this?" Eric hissed. "You are out of your mind, Stackhouse!"

"I suppose I am," said Jason. Sookie smiled. She knew Eric was talking to her and not Jason. Strange, but she liked it that Eric called her Stackhouse. Once Aude had told her, Eric called women with their surname, only if he loved those women. It was very appropriate to think about that at time like this, but Sookie did not care. She reached out her hand to Eric and smiled wider when she felt something very cold squeezed it.

A long howling made the werewolves broke the circle. From a distance, under the dimmed moonlight six figures were approaching. The nearer they were, the looser Eric held her hand. Sookie turned around to see him, and maybe it's only her, but she could swear there was fear on his face. Eric Northman, one of the older vampires whom she knew was afraid...of what?

"A faery, among us, this must be a new beginning," a soft voice filled the air as the figures came closer. There were the four witches and sorcerers whom Sookie had seen, James and an old man with a walking stick in his hand. He looked at Prescott with twinkling eyes. "Ah, the one who would do anything for a werewolf...indeed, this is a new beginning."

There were some murmuring and noises sounded their protest or amusement, but none of them seemed loud enough for anybody to say anything. Sookie could not see Prescott's face, but he had lowered his stick and nodded to the old man. "Greetings for the forest of Bon Temps, Old man," he said. "May the grace of the moonlight show you the way."

"You travel that far for a love that might not be yours, Faery. May the forest give you a mercy and protection when the time comes."

Prescott bowed a little. "Fair enough, Old man."

Sookie had absolutely no idea what they were talking about, but somehow it sounded sad. Did Prescott really love Cooper? Would he do anything for his love?

Then, the Old man came to her. "Mrs. Stackhouse..."

"Northman," Sookie cut him. She knew it was crazy, but she did not want to hide any more. If there was time to tell, then it would be the time. She had a strange feeling that it would be better that way. She could not explain it, but she was certain, that by telling them that she was Eric's wife, somehow, it would help Eric too.

The murmurings were suddenly dead. Not a single sound. Then, Sookie heard a lot of noises coming from their heads, like the sound of not so correct tuned radio station, they came and went. Sometimes they were loud and sometimes they were low. _They were married? _But the loudest came from her brother, Jason.

"You two got married?"

"Yes, we did, Jason," it was Eric, who answered him. "Sookie is my wife; she is mine."

Under the dimmed light of the moon and the shadows of the trees in the depth of Square Stones, somewhere in Arkansas, in front of werewolves, werepanthers, witches and a shifter, Eric Northman declared their marriage and his claim over her. It was a crazy and dangerous thing to do, she had been the one who said it first, and she could not take it back. She realized, she did not want to; and it seemed, Eric did not want it either.

"In that case," the Old man broke the silence. "Mr. and Mrs. Northman, welcome to Square Stones."

The Square Stones was a circle of stones on a hill. There were seven stones in the circle facing a square stone on a wall of the peak of the hill. The road to reach it was not easy. There was a narrow path with hundreds of stairs. The stairs, which were made of flat stones, were slippery from the moss that grew on them. On the right and left side of the stairs were loose soils or roots. Sookie had walked on the stairs for some time, when Eric grabbed her waist and took her flying with him. "You're too slowly," he said. "You blocked the others." Sookie held Eric's neck tightly and she gave him a deep and long kiss as soon as they had landed. "You are brave, Sookie Stackhouse," he said as she let him go, "to claim me in front of the werewolves."

"Somebody has to do that," she touched his nose. "It seems to me, you can't live without a woman who's willing to take care of you."

Eric snorted. "You know something, Stackhouse. Your mouth is too big for a breather." Then, he kissed her. His eyes were flickering. Then, he whispered. "I can't wait for us to go home and I'll show you where such a big mouth like yours will lead you to."

Sookie smiled. "I am glad that you are here, Eric."

"That is the sweetest thing you ever said to me. Don't say it too often, I might think that you love me."

This was the wrong place and time to say those words, but Sookie didn't care. She looked at him straight into his eyes and said, "I love you, Eric Northman."

Those blue eyes were narrowing and the lips which mostly gave her smirks now drew a straight line. He reached out his hand and touched her face. Sookie took that hand and kissed it. She knew, it must have taken him by surprise that he lost all his wits and cynical remarks. Or was he not able to say it?

Eric craned his neck and his nose was only an inch away from her face when he said, "I am yours, Stackhouse. To love you is to let you live within me until the day I meet my death. And I have been doing it since the day we met."

_Jeez, Northman! Can't you simply say you love me? _Sookie touched his face. "My husband..." how strange it was to call Eric that way...

Eric smiled. His eyes looked soft. "Your husband...," then he kissed her forehead and took her in his arm, "Your husband..." His cold arms held her tight; Sookie shivered from the coldness, she enjoyed it nevertheless.

One by one, the werewolves arrived at the peak. Sookie could hear how loud their breaths were! It was just like the sound of old locomotive running down the track. The sweat dropped from their faces and complaint came out from their mouths. It was never a good trip for them. It was always a hard bone breaking journey.

James didn't look quite different either. In fact, Cooper and Doc helped him walking his last steps. He threw himself on the ground as soon as he reached the peak. "Easy for you to say," he said, nobody knew to whom. Blue came short afterward. And like any faithful dog, he went to his master and sat down beside him. His tongue was out and Sookie could see how his whole body shook from breathing.

After some times, one of the witches asked Sookie and Eric to follow him. James was trying to get on his feet, as the witch said. "You stay here, James." The witch took them to a small house not so far from the circle of stones. Eric hesitated to enter the house, but when Sookie grabbed his hand and gave him a smile, he sniffed. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Sookie heard a low voice, but clearly recognizable as Eric's. _Witches! I hate witches! _She let her hand go. Had she just heard Eric's mind? Eric looked at her. His eyes were narrowing. Clearly he wanted to ask her something, but he didn't say anything.

Inside the house was the old man with a stick. His stick was white, just like his hair. It was leaning on the wall at the corner. The smell of some sweet flower and coconut oil reached Sookie's nose. This house was old, as old as the man, if not even older. Everything inside it represented the age of the owner. There was no electricity, no telephone line and no TV. Desperately Sookie looked for a sign of modern world, like a mobile phone laying somewhere, but no, there was no such thing. What she could find was a set of armour – two swords and a shield. By the look of it, Sookie was certain that it was a hundred year old or more. The colours were worn off and on there were scratches and broken part on the surfaces.

The old man gave a sign for the witch to leave. The witch nodded and closed the door behind him.

A strange deja-vu came to Sookie's mind as the room became quiet. She had been in the same situation like this before, around fifteen years ago with some music on the background and Wilson, rocked himself on a lazy chair.

"You have a very determine son, Mrs. Northman," the old man's voice destroyed Wilson's image. "He knows exactly what he wants and how to get what he wants."

Sookie wasn't surprised to hear that. James was always like that. Knowing who the father was, she wouldn't expect him to be somebody different.

"But I don't invite you to talk something that you obviously already knew," that man continued. "Tonight, when the moon reaches its peak, he will be asked and looked by the clans if he is suitable as a werewolf or not. After that, there will be no turning back for him to return to his previous life. He has to adjust himself to the life of his clan, and make everything fit. It will include his education, Mrs. Northman."

"Education...what do you mean by that?"

"Of course, he will still go to the human school, but he will also attend his wolf-training and I am afraid in his case, his ability to manipulate the others."

"Manipulate the others?" Eric looked at the old man. "He can learn at home."

Sookie didn't know if she should be happy or sad hearing Eric blatantly admitted that he was a manipulator or that he knew how to do it, to put it mildly.

"I believe he can," the man smiled. "You must have known a lot of things, Vampire. You wouldn't live this long, if you didn't learn to fit in. But it is not you, whom I am talking about, it's your son. Your son has a power beyond his control, at least for the moment, that if he doesn't use it wisely, he will put himself in danger. At the beginning, his power will make him to be able to gain what he wants, but slowly, his own power will manipulate him. Power is greed, a hunger that is not easy to be satisfied. It will influence him bit by bit and at the end, he will be the tool, the way of his own power. When it happens the way I say it, he will be the most dangerous person you will ever know. Therefore, Vampire, he needs to learn to control it."

Sookie felt her chest becoming heavier. What kind of power was this man talking about? She knew that James could read vampire's mind and control the wolves...did he have others, which she didn't know yet?

"You seem to know that your son has powers."

Sookie looked at the old man. "Why did you say that?"

"You don't seem to surprise."

Sookie didn't react. Yes, she knew, but only recently. Besides, what should she say? James' powers or condition was a secret she would like to keep. She already had said it out loud in front of Alcide and Jack. She would not repeat the same mistake again; even obviously, James himself had already revealed his power without knowing it when he had tried to fight Hallow – the witch.

"When will the ceremony begin?" Eric suddenly asked. He knew that she didn't want to broaden James' powers subject.

"As soon as the moon is above the stones and the full circle is created, we will begin. You are welcomed to witness."

"What are you doing with him?"

"Nothing. The clans are the ones who will take care of the initiation."

Sookie and Eric looked at each other. Initiation? It sounded as if James was entering a gang! Would it include beating, killing, blood drinking?

"If you hurt him in the process," Eric's head moved like a snake's, "I will hold you and the entire clans responsible."

xxxxx

Something was wrong.

James could not say what, but he could feel it. Mom looked worried and Papa didn't even look at him. _Beware, James. Beware, _said Papa in his head.

Beware of what?

"James..." Cooper touched his arms. "I need to talk to you."

James looked at his parents and then at Cooper. "Not now, Coop. I want to know what the Warlock told my parents."

The warlock, what a weird way of addressing somebody, but James didn't know his name. The witches that had taken him to the old man never said his name either.

"You will have plenty of time for that, James." Cooper's fingers slowly turned black and got longer. Between his fingers, long gray hair started showing. What was he doing? Why was he changing? "Trust me, James. It's for your own good."

"Cooper, you are transforming..."

"I am the Keeper of The Moon secret." He let his hand go. "I can transform without losing my shape as a human."

"Is it possible?" Luna looked at him. "I'd never heard such a thing."

"Like any bitten werewolf, which can only transform himself in the full moon, I can control my transformation during the full moon."

"Full moon...Uncle Jason..." James looked around, but he didn't see his uncle.

"The Werepanthers took him away. It's too dangerous for him to be here. He could lose his control and start attacking us. He could injure himself. Come, James. We have to talk."

Cooper took him to the stone circle. Some paces behind, Prescott stood, gleaming. The silver light of the moon made that faery somehow looked surreal to James. He looked like the elves from the dragon and dungeon game that sometimes he played; and like couldn't be more contrasting, Cooper was covered with gray hair all over his body. His face, which was also covered with hair, was not more like a face of an ape than of a man. Honestly, that was weird! He preferred to see him in his complete wolf form, or man form, but not half-half like this.

"When the moon is exactly on the top of the circle and creates a ring, we will make a circle and you will be asked to step inside."

"Who is 'we'?"

"The clans. We will see you, that means, you will be checked by us if you fit to be a member of the werewolves society or not." The ape-face Cooper smiled. He looked sinister now. "I believe you will surprise them with what you have."

"Will they ask some questions like how the members of the Grey Hound did? Will they ask me to fight one of them?"

"I can't tell you that, James. It's a part of the ceremony, which I can't and may not reveal. But like I always say to the young Hounders. You are what you are. Sooner or later, it will shine through. Just remember the reason you agreed to accept Colin's invitation to be our brother. Good or bad, it was your first choice, your purest decision before you see the reality."

"I did it for..."

"Don't tell me," Cooper cut him. "It is your secret, and I don't want to know."

"What if my decision to join you is not strong enough for the clans? What if they think it's a ridiculous decision?"

"Does it matter, James? What matters is your intention to do it." Cooper tapped his shoulder. His yellow eyes blinked. "No matter what happens tonight, James, you are still our Little Brother and the Hounders are notoriously known for defending their brother." He winked. "I hope it eases your mind a little."

Eased his mind a little? How? With all those yellow eyes looked at him and observed every little moved he made?

James watched Cooper walking away. Cooper was absolutely not helping. They had dragged him here and then left him alone and confused. The warlock, whom he had talked some minutes ago, had not said a word about what he was going to do to him. He had asked his name, shaken his hand, looked at him whilst doing it, and that was it. He was asked to sit by the other witch and offered something to drink, which he refused. Then, the warlock looked at him again, smiled and then they left the house.

He sighed. If only somebody had said something to him, anything!

He looked around to find Prescott. The faery was still where he had been. He came to him. "Prescott, you got to tell me what to do!"

"Follow your heart, James. Remember your dream and what Godric had told you."

That was so not helping. Godric hadn't told him anything, except that he believed that Papa had trusted him making the right choice. Papa had let him go, he even had accepted his decision to be a member of a werewolf clan. Wasn't it enough?

The faery touched his shoulder. "There is time when we are not certain about the decision that we took. Sometimes it is just the way it is. What we can do is make the best out of it."

Fintan and the wolf had told him the same thing. If only it had been easy!

The moon created a perfect circle as the werewolves gathered themselves around the stones. James had wondered why the place was called square stones, if there had been no square stone at all, until he saw the Warlock standing on the top of the hill. He was in fact standing on a square stone. James turned his head around and more astonished than afraid, seeing many pairs of yellow eyes looking at him. He had never thought that there would so many werewolves. Heck, he had never thought that they had existed at all! Godric said once, if vampires existed, then any supernatural beings, which had been told from generation to generation, probably existed too. He caught a glimpse of orange eyes. Victoria was standing among the werepanthers, who had two panthers sitting among them. One of them was Uncle Jason, he was sure about it. Then, he saw Mom in Papa's arms. He smiled. In his head Papa was mumbling about taking Mom to Bon Temps as soon as it's over and buying a new bed. _It's about the time. _Papa said, over and over again. As if he had wanted to tell himself that it was the right choice. _Yes, Papa. Buy a big bed for Mom. _He said in his head as loud as he possibly could so that Mom could hear him. _Make her happy, it's about the time! _Mom looked at him and then at Papa. _What? _Papa said in his head. His eyes were now at him dangerously. _James, get out of my head. Now. It was supposed to be a secret! _He smiled. Perhaps, some other time, but not now. Now, Mom had to know that everything would be all right. She didn't need to be worried. If something happened to him, Papa would take care of her.

"James Stackhouse-Northman," a calm, but loud voice echoed on that hill. The Warlock had called his name. "Enter the ring."

_This is it. _He said in his head. _Wish me luck, Mom. Tell Papa, I love him._

Colin came to him and reached out his hand. James could sense how tensed Colin was as he accepted his hand. Out of nowhere, long black nails popped up on his fingers. "This is my brother," Colin said. "We are bonded by blood and oath. I am Colin Purefoy of Grey Hound clan, Beaumont – Texas. I challenge the Gathering to accept my brother as their own."

James looked at him. What did it mean? Would Colin fight against all werewolves for him? "Colin..." However, before he could continue his sentence, Colin pulled him and threw him to the ground. What the fuck...? Confused and anguished, he got up on his feet. He was just about standing straight when he seven or eight figures suddenly circled him. Colin was not there anymore, he had stepped backward to return to his clan. Somewhere on the background, Duke barked vigorously.

"Silence the dog!" somebody said.

"No!" he screamed. "Don't touch my dog, I warn you!"

"You warn us?" a sneering voice was heard among the werewolves. "What do you want to do if we touch your dog? What can you do?"

_Focus, James. _Out of nowhere, suddenly he heard Godric's voice. _Focus. _

He smiled. Godric was here, somewhere. He tried to meet Papa's eyes, but those eyes were cold as ice and his head was blank. Either Papa couldn't feel Godric's presence, or he didn't want anybody to know that Godric was there. "I can make you as my dog, if you touch him," finally he said.

There were murmurings among the werewolves. Some said that he had a big head and they couldn't wait to rip his body apart, some said that they didn't want to try.

_Come here, Boy! _He called Duke.

Somewhere, Duke was gnarling. James couldn't see where Duke was, but he was sure that his dog was now fighting to get his way through to come to him. And like what he thought, his blue fur was glimmering under the moonlight as he was running to him. Suddenly, he stopped. The sound of bones cracking told him why. The eight men who were surrounding him were changing. "James..." he heard Mom's voice among the howling that filled the hill. Duke started barking. His ears were standing and he bared his teeth which were nothing compared to the werewolves'. But he wasn't afraid, he didn't even feel worry. Papa was here, and so was Godric. Moreover, his brothers and sisters of The Grey Hound were here. And Alcide, too. Something had happened in the woods, between him and Mom, but it wouldn't stop Alcide from protecting him against any danger. He had made his promise. Until now, Alcide never broke it and James had no reason to doubt him.

One by one he looked at the eyes of the wolves. "You are my brethren," he said calmly. "I am not afraid of you..." he reached out his hand. The wolves whimpered and one by one approached him. But before too long, a loud noise stopped them.

"Stop using your power!" The woman in white cloth...the witch emerged from behind the stones. "Face them like a wolf!" she was standing not so far from the circle of wolves. Her hands were spread and her face was stone cold. Her eyes, which were yellow-brownish, looked at him with full of disgusts. "You are nothing without the dirty blood in your vein. You will not take charge of the wolves!"

A loud growl was heard. Papa was now standing right behind her. "What do you call him?"

_Papa...I can do it. It's my battle, now. Not yours._

Papa looked at him. His smile looked sinister under the pale moon. "Make her crawl on her paws," he said in Old Norse. "I'll buy you a beer, if you do it. Just don't tell your Mom."

James smiled. On the corner of his eyes he saw Mom being annoyed. Mom should really learn some Swedish!

"Phew!" The witch spat on the ground. "You will not leave your ground unnoticed, Undead!" Her arms were raised.

"Let him," said James. "This is between you and me. Leave my father alone."

A shrilled laugh came out from her mouth. "Your father? Who told you such nonsense? His body is dead, and so is his seed!"

James fought her stares. Those yellow-brownish eyes were like bright lights that blinded him. Then he heard echoes; asking him whether he was sure that Eric Northman was his father or not; whether he really felt fitting in the world of wolves, where strength was the supreme power, or not; whether he was prepared to accept the consequences to be turned into a werewolf or not. A werewolf? Nobody said about being turned into a werewolf! He stepped back. No, he didn't want to be able to change into a wolf, or change himself automatically into a wolf every time the moon is full. He wanted to stay as he was. A normal person, who could talk to the dog – if that could be called normal, of course.

WHY DO YOU COME HERE?

A noise, almost like a scream hit him. It was so loud that almost push him to the ground. He looked around. None of those wolves did that, he was sure. They were now sitting on their back legs and looking at him. Their ears were standing, but they didn't open their mouths any more. They looked more like dogs than wolves. The witch and Papa were also still there. They were facing each other, ready to attack the other.

Who had asked him, then?

YOU DON'T BELONG HERE. LEAVE NOW.

Yes, he did. He belonged there. He had two fathers, who were wolves. He belonged to be there, as much as the next werewolves.

THAT IS THE KEY, ISN'T IT? WOLVES. YOU ARE NOT A WOLF.

Yes, yes, he was. His great grandfather had told him. Filtiarn was the name of the wolf. And he was his father. Filtriarn's blood had saved Papa's life. Great grandfather said, he was made when Papa still had Filtrian's blood. Knowing Papa's thoughts, he believed that. Papa couldn't stop thinking about Mom most of the time. Even now, when Mom was old. He could imagine, when Mom had been younger, Papa must have...James closed his eyes. He didn't want to imagine what Papa had done with Mom when Mom had been younger, really not. That made him somehow feel like a freak.

STILL, YOU CAN'T TRANSFORM, YOU CAN'T RUN, HOWL AND HUNT LIKE A WOLF. YOU WILL ONLY BE A BURDEN FOR THE WOLVES.

No, he couldn't do all of those. But he could talk to the dogs and he could talk to the wolves. Great grandfather said, he even could make the wolves do what he wanted, when or if he wanted. Filtrian was the King of the Wolves. Did that make him a prince?

YOU ARE A PRINCE? THAT IS RIDICULOUS!

Yes, wasn't it? He was not a prince; he didn't feel like a prince. He was just a normal human being.

THEN WHY DON'T YOU LEAVE? WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR HERE?

Yes, what was he looking for here? He had made Mom worry most of the time. Mom hadn't said a word about it, but he could see it on her face. Victoria liked him as he was. She hadn't even known about him, when they kissed each other for the first time. Surely, she would accept him if he decided to leave. Why would he go through all these problems? He could go back to Bon Temps or Baton Rouge, continue his school and lead a normal life.

What about Uncle Jason?

Hadn't he done it for Uncle Jason? Wasn't it the main reason he had done this? He wanted to find a home for Uncle Jason. He wanted that Mom and Uncle Jason could be together again; love each other as a family. If he left, the Grey Hound Clan would refuse him too. No, he couldn't do that to Uncle Jason. Aunt Arlene had told him that Uncle Jason had been bitten by a panther when he had tried to save her. They had been kidnapped by some people, who worked for a man called Daniel Wilson. This man had had a long history of hatred against Papa. Even it was nonsense to think that Papa had caused all of those, he felt sorry for Uncle Jason. This was his chance to do something for Uncle Jason, like paying the debt.

LEAVE NOW, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. THE WOLVES WILL NOT ACCEPT YOU.

No, he would stay. He had found friends and home among the Hounders. In reflex, he touched the necklace that Laura had given him. Laura, yes, Laura. He had promised her to go to Italy together. He smiled. She wanted to have her necklace back. Besides, they didn't go the waterfalls yet and he still wanted to see them. Yes, he was a Hounder and he would stay that way. There would be nothing in this world that made him change his mind. Perhaps, when Mom asked him, but Mom had agreed and he knew Mom. Mom was not a woman who changed her mind easily.

Yes, he was a werewolf, not in body, but in heart.

I'LL ASK YOU ONLY ONCE. LEAVE!

"NO!" he screamed. No, he didn't have any attention to go anywhere!

The wind blew strongly against his face. He was pushed some steps backward, but with all his might, he tried to fight it. And when he felt that his feet were lifted and he was sure that he would be thrown away, he heard Mom's voice, "James!"

Then everything was quiet. He didn't see or hear anything any more, as he fell to the ground. He tried to get up, but he felt his hands numb. "Tomorrow," he said to himself. "Mom will tell me everything tomorrow."

He closed his eyes. Yes, tomorrow.

xxxxx

Mom's face was the first thing he saw, as James opened his eyes. Her eyes were swollen and her lips were shaking. "Hey, Momma," he tried to smile.

Tears fell on her cheek. "Hey, Sweetheart."

He looked around. Papa was standing behind Mom. It meant, it's still night. Alcide was beside Papa and on his left side was Colin. Prescott was also there, standing beside the door. "What happened?"

"You fell to the ground," Papa answered. "Bleeding to death."

Had he? He didn't remember that. What did Papa mean with bleeding to death? Did he die now? "But I wasn't dead, was I?"

"You would, if your father didn't give you his blood," Mom wiped off her tears. "You scared me, James."

"I am sorry, Mom," he smiled. "Where am I?"

"In the Warlock's bedroom."

The Warlock...he sighed. He was still at the Square Stones. "I want to go home, Mom." he said.

"We will, Darling. Tomorrow. We go straight to Bon Temps."

"No, you misunderstood. Beaumont is my home now, not Bon Temps."

"Don't say that to your mother, James," said Papa.

"I am sorry, Mom," he said. "But it really is. Beaumont is my home. Besides, I promised Laura to return her necklace."

"If it's only Laura that you want, she can come to you, James, in Bon Temps. At any time."

"No, it's not Laura, Colin. It's the clan. I don't want Laura. I want Victoria, I love her."

The heaviness came to him. He needed some sleep. "I'll sleep now," he said. "Tomorrow we talk again." He closed his eyes. Soon, everything was black again. When he opened his eyes, there was nobody there, but Victoria. Her eyes were just like Mom's, big and swollen. "Hi," he reached out his hand. "I didn't see you during the Gathering."

"I was behind," she took his hand and kissed it. "You're too stubborn. You should have stopped it, given up and not continued fighting. Look at you, all bled and almost died!"

"I didn't want to stop. They are my friends and family!"

"Who? You have no friends, except me! Your mother is not a werewolf, why did you have to fight that hard? Don't you love your mother any more?"

"Silly, of course I love my mother. I have her blessing to do it!"

"Don't you love me? I can't be with you if you are a werewolf!"

He looked at her. In dimmed light, her face looked pale. "Really, Victoria? You are a shifter, you can shift yourself into a wolf, if you want to. I can't. I am still a human; I can't shift myself into anything. What is the difference?"

"But if you are a member of a werewolf clan, you have to follow their rules. What if they don't allow you to be with me?"

He smiled. "Then we run away. I love you, Victoria. I don't care if they don't agree; I don't even care if Mom doesn't agree. We will be together one day. I am sure of it!"

"Then leave the clan. Go with me, now."

He stared at Victoria. Her orange eyes changed into dark red. Weird. Victoria would not say that. She would never ask him to go with her. She had even left him alone in the room after she had kissed him and made him all hot. He was still angry with her about it, because he had been so sure that the night would have been the night that he would get to know what it meant to have a woman for the first time; to become a man, but then she had left him high and dry. No, Victoria would not say that. She knew how important it was for him to be a member of the Grey Hound clan, she would not ask him to leave them.

"James...please, go with me and leave the clan..."

"No," he said, taking his hand off hers. "And if you love me, you won't ask that." He pulled the blanket over his head. "Go, please. I want to sleep now."

"You don't know what love is. If you do, you won't behave like this!"

Maybe he didn't. Since it was the first time that he fell in love, but he knew what family meant. He wouldn't leave the clan and let down Uncle Jason.

"For the last time, I ask you James Stackhouse-Northman. LEAVE THE CLAN!"

He removed the blanket from his face and said, "NO!"

All of sudden, the room spun. He grabbed the bed, but soon, he was thrown off the bed and spun with it. He screamed and held on the bed as strong as he possibly could. The room spun faster and faster. He closed his eyes. Where was he? What happened to him? His head was getting heavy and his hands were getting loose. Sooner or later, he would be thrown out of the room and end up somewhere in the darkness. Then, he heard a howl and he saw a shimmering light. He knew who they were, they were his great grandfather and Filtiarn. "Great grandfather..." he called out. "Father...help!" He spun faster and faster and when his hands were no longer able to hold on, he was thrown away. James screamed loudly. "Heeeeeeelp!"

Boom! He landed on the ground. He opened his eyes, only to find he was still where he had been, surrounded by the werewolves on the peak of the Square Stones. He tried to get up, but soon, he fell on the ground.

"James!" he heard Papa's voice. The wolves turned around to Papa. They were all snarling at him.

"Let me come to my son," Papa growled. "Or you will get to know me."

Before the wolves or Papa did anything, from the top of the hill somebody shouted. "Help! The Warlock is bleeding!"

The circle of wolves broke. One by one they changed into their human forms. To James' surprise, one of them was Alcide. He turned around and nodded, before he walked away. Papa followed him with his icy stares, but soon he also turned his face away and came to him. His fangs were bared and without saying anything, he bored them into his own wrist, and still in his growling voice said, "Drink it."

James took his hand without protesting. He knew Papa was angry. It would be better for everybody if he simply did what he had been told.

"James!" Mom came to him. "James..."

"These werewolves!" Papa hissed. "They are out of the line."

Mom touched his hair. "James..." her tears fell on his face. "Never ever do this to me again..."

Papa's eyes flickered dangerously. "If you don't listen to your mother again, I will teach you how."

Warm feeling crept into his body. Slowly but surely, he gained his strength again. Softly, he pushed Papa's hand away. "Drink from me," Mom said. "You don't look so good, Eric." The next thing James heard was Mom's gasping. James pulled himself and sat down. Everybody was running around. It seemed chaos had ruled this place. And among that chaos, he saw Victoria, standing. As soon as their eyes met, she walked toward him. He looked at Papa, who was feeding on Mom. Mom was right, Papa looked...grey. He must have given him a lot of blood. Soon, Papa's skin was again pale. He let Mom's hand go, and licked his lips as if he had eaten delicious food. Then, he kissed her. "Thank you, lover," he said as he let her go.

Victoria came and sat beside him. Ignoring Mom and Papa, she hugged him tightly. "I thought, I would lose you."

He kissed her hair. No, Victoria. Never. Ever.

Xxxxx

Never in her life had Sookie felt so much fear like tonight. The picture of James falling on the ground was playing over and over again; it made her shudder. She would have been catching him, had Prescott not caught her. "Be patient, Sookie. There is nothing you can do. He has to go through this test alone."

How could she be patient and pretend that nothing happened? James was surrounded by eight werewolves and Hallow was there too. She was facing Eric now, but it seemed, Eric didn't want to take the first blow against her. Everybody was waiting, whilst James was on the ground. She couldn't see what was happening to him. And when James could get up only to fall again, Eric jumped to him. Strangely, Hallow didn't do anything against him. As she also ran to James, she could see that Hallow was bleeding. And so was James. Luckily, Eric moved fast. He was giving James his blood as she arrived.

"These werewolves," Eric hissed. "They are out of the line!"

Sookie touched James' hair. "Never ever do this to me again," her tears dropped on his face. Or she would never forgive herself to let everything go too far like this. What kind of power did James have that made the witches eager to know? Why had they done this to him?

"If you don't listen to your mother again, I will teach you how." Eric's voice sounded rusty and in pain. She turned to see him and was shocked to see that Eric was turning grey, just like when she saw him lying in his coffin. What happened to him? It was as if James had sucked the life out of him! "Drink from me," she gave him her wrist. "You don't look so good, Eric."

Eric took her hand as James finished his drinking and drank her the way he had drunk her on the first time; with a big appetite and thirst that he seemed to have had for years. His skin soon returned to its normal colour. He licked his lips, and then kissed her. His eyes shone brightly as he said, "Thank you, lover." He put some drops of his own blood on the wound to close them.

Sookie took a deep breath. James was sitting already and in his arms was Luna. He looked...content, as if what had happened to him had meant nothing to him. Somebody screamed about the Warlock bled, but Sookie didn't care. She didn't even care if that son of a bitch died!

When everything and everybody calmed down, they gathered beside the stone circle. The Hounders stood still behind Colin and his lieutenant. James was sitting on the ground. He seemed not to care that every pair of eyes were at him. One of his hands was striking Blue, the other was holding Victoria's. The other leaders of the werewolf clans sat on the ground with hard faces. Sookie could hear them murmuring about James. It was not clear what they were saying, but from their tones, Sookie could only guess that it couldn't be good. None of the witches were there.

No word was speaking among the leaders of the clans. They looked at each other and then one by one shook Colin's hand. "He's yours, Colin," one of them said. "But if he enters my area, I want your words that he won't interfere with our business."

"He won't attend any meeting until he's on age."

"That means next year," again, they looked at each other. Sookie could see that the fear on his face.

"In the meantime, he will stay under Long Tooth's responsibility." Colin looked at Sookie. "Of course, his mother can voice something different."

_Oh, she can, can't she? _Sookie was annoyed. She was the mother, but she didn't seem to have any voice in this meeting. What about Alcide? What would he say? She shot Alcide with a demanding look. Why did he keep quiet the whole time?

"I take the responsibility," finally, Alcide opened his mouth. "I'll share it with the Sheriff of Shreveport." He added it hastily.

Eric lifted his eyebrow. "I am not a werewolf. I don't live under your law." his head moved like a snake's. "He's my son; he's my responsibility, whether you recognize it or not."

That seemed to be a clear answer for them. The circle broke; one by one they left, until there were only the members of Grey Hounder, Luna, Eric and Sookie.

"What does it mean, Colin?" asked Sookie. "Is it over now?"

"Yes." Colin looked at James. His eyes turned yellowish. "He's a werewolf now."

xxxxx


	49. Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire

**Author's Note: **I am so very sorry for the very late update. I am trapped between the world of Celtic and Bon Temps. There's almost nothing that I could do, except follow the call of my heart most desires: Druids and Trees. (Lame excuse). Anyway, I'll try to listen to Sookie's scream this time...well, that can't be that hard, since she screamed most of the time through Season 3 (sorry, can't help it).

I want to thank my friend,** Bontempsbeau,** who helps me with the correction this time. Even during his battle against this and that, he still has time to read my story. Thank you so very much, my friend.

* * *

Chapter Forty-Nine

**Out of the frying pan and into the fire**

The Warlock looked pale and was shivering. Some dried blood could be seen around his mouth. It was black and had an odor that smelled bad to Sookie's nose. James sat on the edge of the bed and held his hand. Sookie was shocked to see how skinny those fingers were and how long the nails were. Not only that the nails were black and pointed, like the nails of a wolf.

The Witches had invited James, Eric, Sookie and the leaders of the werewolf clans to enter the warlock's house. He was too weak to come to the circle of stones. He had lost a lot of blood. Nevertheless, he wanted to speak with all of them.

"Young man," the Warlock smiled. His eyes were small, but shone brightly. "I have underestimated you. You have a strong feeling to commit to something that you believe in. That's a good start to be a werewolf."

Sookie was not sure if she liked to hear that, but it seemed it was good enough for James and the other werewolves, who were in the room. James smiled and the other werewolves looked at each other, nodded. Only Eric was expressionless as ever and suddenly on the back of her head, his voice was heard. _He has defeated you, Old Man._ Sookie gasped. She could hear his thoughts! It hadn't been a random voice; it had been him, talking in his head! A strange feeling crawled on her skin. His voice sounded as if it was spoken in a hollow room. It was echoing and distant. Eric looked back at her. The flickering lights in his eyes told her, he knew. He took her hand and said, _not now. _

James' voice took her attention back. "Was it you, who came to my dream, pretending to be the people whom I love?"

"I am sorry if it caused you any pain, but it was necessary."

"Necessary?" Sookie couldn't stop herself. "You almost killed him!"

"Forgive me, Sookie," the Warlock looked at her. The lines on his face looked deeper as he said, "I told you, you have a powerful son. He himself has to learn and to know his borders." He touched James' face. "He has a good teacher."

Somehow Sookie had a feeling, the Warlock wasn't speaking about her.

"What will you do to him now?"

"He is free now. He can either stay here with me, or leave the Square Stones. I accept him as my student if he's willing to learn from me."

A sound of murmurs filled the room. The warlock never has any student, one said. I don't like this, the other said. He is different. He's too dangerous. He's too young. He is our savior.

James looked at her. "I would like to go home, Mom." His eyes looked red. He continued in his head, _tonight, if it's possible._

Sookie wanted to go home tonight too, if it was possible; but she knew, it wasn't. She hadn't walked each step of the way; nevertheless, she had seen how the werewolves looked like as they reached the top had told her clear enough, the road to go down wasn't easy. "We go tomorrow at day break."

xxxxx

Under the silver light of the moon, which was heading to the East, Sookie held Eric tight. Her body shook from fear that had overtaken her since the meeting was over. She couldn't and didn't want to imagine what might happen to James after tonight. In her fear and anxiety, she blamed herself for letting everybody make decisions for her and James.

Eric's hair touched her cheek softly as the wind blew. "I have to go soon, lover," he whispered.

"I am afraid, Eric."

"Look at me, Sookie."

Sookie loosened her hold and looked up. Eric's cold blue eyes seemed to be colder. "You are a strong woman, Sookie, even when you don't realize it. James is more your son than mine; whatever power and persistence he has, they come from you. He has my looks, but his personality is all yours. If he could defeat that old witch, so can you. Nothing, nothing that ever walks on this country will ever defeat you or your son. Not even me."

"That's a big word, Eric. I don't know if I am."

"I know you are."

"You trust me too much. You don't even know me."

"You have been waiting for me for fifteen years, just like you said you would. You didn't know that I wasn't dead, but you did it, nevertheless. It shows to me clearly what you are, that you are strong and trustworthy and that you love me. I know you much more than you think." He caressed her face tenderly. "You have your whole life to get to know me and I will stay the same, physically and mentally. You don't have to be afraid that you won't recognize me, lover, because I am what I am since I can remember."

A warm feeling overtook her. Yes, he was. He was what he was since the day they first knew each other. God, how she missed Bon Temps! She wanted to be there, now, at their home, consummating their time and togetherness. "I want to go home, Eric. I want to go to our house in the middle of the wood and forget this whole mess."

"We will, Lover." Eric kissed her forehead. "Stay close to Alcide. He's the only one whom you can trust among them."

"Alcide is angry with me. I didn't tell him that James can read vampire minds."

"I'll have some words with him. Don't worry, he might be angry, but it won't be long. He loves both of you. I'll put some reasons in that thick head."

It was either Eric knew Alcide too well, or he had put some reasons in Alcide's mind, whatever it was, Sookie found Alcide laying beside her in the early morning. Like other werewolves, he made noises like a dog in his sleep. She had been wakened up abruptly by the sound and the touch on her arm. James was sitting beside her. His face was twisted from not enough sleep and sadness. "Victoria is gone," he said. At first she had thought that Luna had taken Duke with her, but then she saw the dog laying beside James with its head on the ground.

"What is it?" Alcide woke up and rubbed his eyes.

"Luna is gone," she said.

"Don't worry, James. She'll return. She returned once, she'll return again."

"I hope so and better with a good explanation." James' voice sound as if he was going to cry. "If she doesn't come back, I will never forgive her for the rest of my life!"

Around noon, they climbed down the hill. The Warlock gave James a simple necklace, made from leather and a piece of black wood as the medallion. Now two necklaces were around his neck, the old one was from Colin. "Take care of yourself, James. Come any time you want. The door of my house is always open for you."

James nodded. "Thank you."

Their cell phones rang as soon as they reached the inn. Modern life attacked them without any mercy. Sookie sat as far as possible from anybody with mobile phones. She couldn't stand to hear the sound of their beep-beep or the ring tones. Moreover, she couldn't stand listening to their thoughts screaming loudly at her.

Alcide came to her. "We have to go as soon as possible to the Haven."

"Why?"

"Somebody is looking for Eric. Somebody named Haru. My father said that Haru has very important information that he only will share with Eric."

Haru...that name rang a bell.

"You know him?"

"No, but I heard that name before."

"Pam asked Sam to take care of him. She doesn't want other vampires to have any contact with him. It looks like Haru is somebody important in vampire world."

"Alcide...I am sorry that I didn't tell you about James."

"Forget it, Sookie. I am the one who has to apologize. You do whatever is necessary to protect him and I think you do pretty well so far."

She smiled. Ah, Alcide. He's always very supportive and kind. "Thank you."

Alcide smiled and then looked at James, who was talking with other members of The Grey Hound. "He has to go to school in two or three weeks. Will you let him stay in Bon Temps or will you send him to Beaumont? I heard Colin's niece is a nice girl and he seems to like her."

"Let him decide, Alcide. It's his first love, it will hurt him badly, but he will survive. Don't push him; otherwise he will have crazy thought of searching for Luna. Then, we will have a real problem."

"You're right. He has a crazy son of a bitch as a father," he flashed his dangerous grin. "We will never know what he will do next."

"You know exactly what he will do next, Alcide, if he's through and through like his father." Sookie looked at James and couldn't help to picture him as Eric and his crazy idea about making himself human for a day, for Aude. "He will ignore any advice and does whatever it takes to get what he wants."

Alcide laughed. "You don't forgive him for what he had done for Aude, do you?"

"No."

"He might be crazy, Sookie. But he loves you. He married you in his crazy way, doesn't he? If I killed you now, he would die too. He is a lucky bastard that I love you too."

Alcide didn't keep a secret anymore about his feeling toward her. Sookie felt uncomfortable about it, but she didn't intend to tell him that.

Xxxxx

The lights, the sound and the dirty smell in the air told Sookie that they were already in Shreveport. The ships blew their horns to announce their coming or leaving, the car drivers yelled at each other, either with the horns or their mouths, as soon as they thought something went wrong, and the orange yellowish color of street lamps brightened their surroundings for nothing. The lights that came from the houses and cars were bright enough to light the street; they didn't need any other lamps to do the job.

Lafayette held her tight. "I am dead worried about you," he said. His swollen eyes and uncombed hair made him look older. "Is Jim all right?"

"Yes, but he will need some rest."

"I'll make sure that he stays in his room, Hon. Don't you worry." Then, he went to James, who just went out of the car. "Jimmy!" his voice rang in the air. "Dear Lord, what is that around your neck?"

Lafayette and his passion for fashion! Surely he would get the story that he wanted from James by paying attention to the small things.

Sam took her hand and gave a sign to Alcide to follow him. "You have to take Haru away from here, Sookie. The news that Haru is here in Shreveport spreads faster than fire. It's not safe anymore to keep him here."

"Who is he?"

Sam looked at her and said in his head, _he's the creator of True Blood._

Now she knew why the name was familiar for her. Eric had mentioned his name once, talking about contacting somebody in Japan and asking him about the new True Blood.

"Is there any place safe where we can talk about it?"

"Why not here?" asked Alcide.

"I don't question your loyalty to Northman, Alcide. But since when other werewolves care about vampires?"

"It isn't only about vampires, Sam. It's about werewolves too." Alcide told Sam short and fast about what they had fought in the woods of Square Stones. "There's something about the new True Blood that affects everybody. It's no longer vampire matter only."

"Amelia said the same thing too."

Amelia? Hmm, it seemed everything was normal again between them. "If you don't want to talk about it here, where do you want to have it?"

"Northman Mansion." Sam looked at her. "Vampires and werewolves are afraid of Eric. Besides, he's a sheriff; his rank must mean something in the vampire world."

"And he has his son…"

"Leave James out of this, Alcide. He has enough." Sookie cut him off. "It'd make me feel better if he doesn't know anything about all of this."

"Sorry, Sook. You're right." Alcide looked at Sam. "When will you want us to go?"

"Tonight. It has to be done tonight. I fear, Alcide, it won't be easy for any of us to keep that man alive."

xxxxx


	50. The Moon, The Mercury and

**Author's Note: This will be the end of Part 1. **

I decide to split the story into two parts, due to the length, so it will be easier for you all to follow the story. I am sorry for the inconvenience. Please, follow the second part of the story. And I do would love to read your critics or ideas!

Thanks again to BonTempsBeau for his critics, correction and ideas.

I would like to thank Vic Vega and BloodSucker815 for their corrections!

And thank to you all for reading and reviewing my story!

Most of all, I would like to thank Ruth for patiently listening to my absurd ideas about mercury, silver and vampires!

**Disclaimer: This is pure fantasy. Any similar names, places or incidents are purely coincident.**

* * *

Chapter Fifty

**The Moon, The Mercury and The Other Problems  
**

Northman Mansion at night was like a giant's shadow. Standing still under the creeping dark color of the trees' shadows on its wall, it didn't seem to be impressed by the business of the human, who were around or inside the mansion.

Eric had been standing in front of the door when Sookie, Sam, Alcide, Haru and the Grey Hound arrived. The dark red circles around his eyes and the dullness of his skin made him look old and tired.

Sookie gave him her wrist as they were in their bedroom. "You have to drink, Eric," she said, when Eric refused her. "I need you…please,"

Sookie gasped as his fangs bored into her wrist. She could hear how greedy he sucked her blood, she could also hear faintly his head talking some gibberish, which she assumed it was Swedish or Old Norse.

His skin was slowly white again. The dark red circles were becoming transparent, and then gone. He smiled. "Thank you, Lover."

They decided to have a meeting in the study room.

Sookie had seen Eric standing, crossing his arms, staring at his conversation partner without saying any words on so many different occasions, yet she was still surprised to realize how cold and distant he was from anybody. Sometimes she even had a feeling that she hadn't existed at all, during the conversation. She knew it was nonsense, because from to time to time, when she hadn't expected it at all, Eric would give her a look that acknowledged her presence. She would smile at him, and he would blink for a moment, with a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.

Like tonight. He listened carefully to what Haru said with his eyes fixed on that Japanese man. His head bent a little and to her surprise, he gave Haru the same gesture as he gave Godric: respectful and admiring.

"I have to ask you some questions, Eric-san. I apologize if my questions are considered out of line."

"You do whatever you think it's necessary to help us, Sensei." Eric said.

"Did you drink any True Blood, recently?"

"No, I didn't."

"Since when did you stop drinking True Blood?" Sookie couldn't stop herself.

Eric looked at Sookie. "Since the old True Blood ran out, Godric told me to drink fresh so that my body gained its strength faster."

The room was quiet. Sookie tried her best not to give any reaction. It meant Eric had drunk from human since he had returned from the dead. The image of Eric sucking somebody – women; forced her to hold her breath. She knew Eric had to do it, but still, she couldn't help feeling disturbed.

"Thank you for your honesty, Eric-san." Haru's eyes were on Sookie. He smiled, as if he wanted to apologize if he had caused her any inconvenience. "I am afraid, Eric-san, somebody has changed True Blood formula. And it worries me. I had conducted some experiments on vampires…"

"You experimented on vampires?" Sam cut him off. "Is it allowed? I mean, Vampires have rights too…in Japan…and experimenting on vampires is like experimenting on humans."

Eric looked at him. "I don't know that you care, Shifter."

"If they can do it to you, Northman, one day, they will be able to do it to us too," said Sam. He looked worried. "If I don't start caring about you, then who will care about me, when the time comes?"

Both men looked at each other. After a while, Eric nodded and said, "I'll remember you and your kind, Merlotte."

Sookie shivered. As long as she had known Eric, he had always called Sam 'shifter', tonight was the first time she heard him calling Sam 'Merlotte'. She could run and hug both of them!

Sam nodded. "You do that, Northman."

"To answer your question, Mr. Merlotte," Haru said. "No, my government doesn't allow any experiment on vampires. The vampires who came to my laboratory were volunteers. You can ask Eric-san here, as he was one of few vampires who first took my True Blood. However, I don't come here to explain to anybody about my experiments; even I would answer the question at any time and gladly.

I have found mercury in high dose inside the new True Blood, Eric-san."

"Mercury…what is that?" asked Sookie.

"Mercury is a kind of heavy-metal, which is very dangerous for human health. Any exposure to mercury or any of its compounds cause a health disorder, which is known as hydrargyria…"

"Hydra…what?"

"Hydrargyria…Minimata disease?"

Sookie shook her head.

"Minimata is a city in Japan. In the year 1959 there was a tragedy happened in that city, when the whole population of Minimata suffered from Mercury poisoning. Some researchers from University of…," Haru stopped, and as he saw that none of them understood what he was talking about, he said, "Anyway, mercury poisoning can result in impairment of our ability to see things, which are not on the direct line, or to see things in the night, lack of coordination in movement, speech impairment and muscle weakness…"

"Go on…" Sookie trembled. The Queen had all those symptoms. Unable to stop herself, she grabbed Eric's arms. Eric looked at her, touching her hand and smiled.

"It can also lead to mood swings, loss of memory, insomnia, mental disturbance and higher exposure can also cause kidney failure and death."

"Can you treat this mercury poisoning?"

"Yes. The persons and the surroundings have to be thoroughly cleaned of all traces of mercury."

"That would be difficult," said Eric. "You can't just go inside the palace and clean it. Especially now that the Queen is sick and is under the rule of the King. He won't accept our explanation easily."

"What if Haru goes there and explains everything to the King?" asked Sookie.

"What if the King is the one who planned all of this?" Alcide bit his own finger nail, which suddenly grew longer. "He could be killed and the murders of my kind wouldn't be solved."

"We can, however, try something dramatic, which I am not sure, can be done or if Eric-san is willing to do it."

"It depends," said Eric.

"If I will allow him to do it," Sookie looked at Eric sternly. "I will not let you do some crazy stupid things again, especially not for that queen of yours!"

Eric smirked. _You…try…_

"You can count on that, Eric!" Sookie didn't care anymore if any of them would understand the meaning of what she did. And yes, soon afterwards, she heard Alcide murmuring. "You too, Sookie?"

Sam looked at Alcide and then at her and those brown eyes gave her a look that she wouldn't forget for a long time. A look of shock and horror that made him look like a frightened little puppy. "W..what do you mean…Jesus! J..James can…?" he pointed at Eric and made a circle around his head. "Jesus!"

Haru's little eyes were getting smaller. Clearly he tried to understand what they were talking about, but he didn't pursue the answer. "If you don't drink the new version of True Blood, it will be very helpful to my planning."

"Which is?"

"I want to introduce a process of dialysis to prevent the poisoning process to go further. Of course, if it was a human case; I would introduce a chelation therapy. Chelation therapy," Haru went on without realizing that Sookie's face was all twisted hearing words that she didn't understand, "is a therapy which uses the chelating agents to remove the poisonous metal agents such as mercury, arsenic and lead, by converting them or changing them to other chemical form that can be excreted without further interaction with the body, for example, changing it into a soluble water-based chemical form that can be processed in the kidneys and excreted as urine."

"What kind of chelating agents do you want to use, Kimura-san? Dimercaprol?" It looked like Eric was the only one who could understand what Haru was talking about.

Haru bowed a little. It looked like he admired Eric's knowledge about his field. Slowly Sookie felt that she didn't know anything about Eric at all and she had a strange feeling of being in a Chemistry Conference of some kind. And she felt absolutely clueless.

"Sorry, folks," Colin, who had been quiet, suddenly said. "I don't understand a single word you are saying."

"He wants to use a toxin to remove the other toxin." Eric said. "The new toxin will bind to the old one, and make something else that human body can process."

"Yeah, I understand that," Colin scratched his non-itchy head. "Where did you pick up this knowledge from, by the way?"

"I worked together with Kimura-san's father during the Second World War at Oxford University to find antidote for Lewisite."

"For whom?"

"Lewisite…it's a chemical weapon, unfortunately created by my government's and your government's agents, Mr. Merlotte." Again, Haru nodded at Eric. "My father spoke highly about a Swedish scientist that helped him a lot with his experiments that made me curious and want to work together with him also. I didn't know that Eric-san was a vampire back then, in fact, my father had never mentioned about it. He always saw Eric-san as a fellow scientist and that's all what mattered for him." His face brightened. "It was a dream came true, as my father introduced Eric-san to me. It was and is an honor to know a scientist, who worked under the direct supervision of Madame Curie." He bowed and then spoke something in Japanese.

Eric bowed a little and said, "It was and is an honor to work with the Haru Family, Kimura-san."

_Heh…a Viking warrior, a businessman, a social worker (or at least __fucked__ one of them) and now, a scientist. What else was Eric? Something simpler like a go go dancer, perhaps? _Sookie looked at the vampire whom she loved and found herself amazed by the thought how little she knew about him. "Let's just say, you can't do the chelating, Haru-san," she tried to pull the conversation in a more understandable direction. "What would you do next, that involves Eric?"

"Remove her blood completely and replace it with that of an older one, such as, Eric's…"

"Out of the question," it was Alcide, who said this. His green eyes changed into yellow; his finger nails were now completely out. Grey hair covered his arms.

Eric sniffed. "You don't have a say about my life, Alcide."

"It's not about your life that we are talking about, and you know damn well whose it is!"

The two men faced each other. This time, it was Eric who stepped back. "You're right," he said. His voice was calm. He seemed to have realized, that if he insisted on doing it, he wouldn't only endanger himself, he would also drag Sookie along.

"Another problem," said Haru, as if one hadn't been enough. "I found another chemical compound that is unknown to me. According to my experiments, this new compound can keep the vampire skin intact for some minutes under the sunlight exposure."

"Go on," said Eric. His blue eyes flickered. Sookie swore, Eric looked excited about it.

"Only some minutes, Eric-san, then, it was burned. My apology to give you such a bad news."

_Oh, no, he didn't_, Sookie thought. _I hope Eric doesn't plan to walk under the sun again, not even for me_. Sookie moved some steps away from Eric. _Once is enough._

As if Eric had been able to hear what she was thinking about, he caught her hand and pulled her closer. "No apology is necessary, Sensei."

"I don't understand," said Alcide. "I believe there are some clever vampires, scientists, alchemists, whatever, but how could they let this thing happen? I mean, you can taste the mercury inside the drink, can't you?"

"No and the effect wouldn't be seen until it's too late." Then, he looked at Eric. "What fears me more is that the mercury that I found has the same properties of the mercury that my father owned."

"What are you saying, Kimura-san?" Eric looked worried. He didn't cross his arms anymore and he even moved some steps backward.

"Yes, Eric-san. I am afraid you are correct. The mercury is from Nevada, like many years ago."

"What is so special about Nevada?" asked Sookie and she was alarmed when she saw that it wasn't only Eric who had reacted that way, but Alcide and Sam too.

"King of Nevada…De Castro…is a vampire you don't want to meet, Sookie." Eric's eyes blurred. "You either serve him or die."

The room suddenly became quiet. No one moved, no one even said anything in their thoughts. For a moment, Sookie thought that she had been alone in the room. They didn't have to say anything, but if a vampire like Eric, who had been living more than one thousand years, had fear in his voice when he spoke about another vampire, they could imagine how dangerous that vampire could be.

And now, that vampire could be their enemy. There would be no thought or courage words that would make them think otherwise.

"I could contact the Black Wolves of Nevada," Alcide broke the silence. His lips were tight. He looked at Colin and as if his next words were an act of crime, he said it low. "But it would mean to declare war against the vampire openly."

"I don't understand," said Sookie.

"Once I contact them, the information that we have tonight won't stay among us anymore. I still can control my clan not to do anything against vampires, but I have no power whatsoever to tell them what to do. Sookie, Simon was a member of Black Wolves of Nevada. If they know that vampires of Nevada have anything to do with his death, I don't think that they will stand still. And besides The Grey Hound, Mojave Black Wolves are one of our oldest packs. I don't want to imagine what will happen if they decide to declare war against the vampires."

"And I will kill those who had turned my brother," said Colin. "I don't care if he is a king or not. His debt has to be settled."

"This is the reason I must speak to Eric-san, first." The sadness in Haru's voice made every head in the room turned to him. "He is the only who understands the importance of the matter. This is not about who spills whose blood, this is about the blood itself, which either you want to accept or not, determines the running course of your worlds. The one, who invented the new True Blood, knows how to influence the balance of the substances in the original formula. The unknown substances that I found are able to bind the mercury and other chemical substance in such a stable condition that it was very difficult for me to break them. The amount of this substance is made so precisely that it wouldn't kill the vampires who drink it but enough to control the consciousness and made them do whatever the producers want it. Of course, I can't say that for sure yet. This is only a temporary result from my observation of the Queen's condition. If I can stay with the Queen longer, I can give you my final conclusion (Sookie's held her breath as she heard it. The idea of using the Queen as one of the 'lab-mouse' was unbecoming to her).

To tell you the truth, I am more interested to get to know the creator of the new True Blood. Because I need to know how they did it. I need to know what kind of agent they use to bind the new substances because I have been trying to find a formula that can balance the level of adrenaline inside werewolf blood, especially during the full moon, so that the mutation can be repressed or even stopped. But until now, I am unsuccessful."

Sookie wasn't sure if she's supposed to be glad or sad hearing Haru's confession. What she knew was that man had to stop mess around with blood!

"You tried to…" Sam cleared his throat. "…create a kind of True Blood for werewolves?"

"More or less, Mr. Merlotte, but unfortunately, without Eric-san or my father, I am not as useful as I thought I would be."

"He won't touch any werewolf blood, I can guarantee that," Colin snarled. "Don't you see you have created enough disaster and confusion already? If you hadn't made True Blood, the world wouldn't know of the existence of vampires, and the humans would be satisfied with the nonsense that Hollywood told them about vampires or werewolves!"

"True, Mr. Purefoy. But they also have the right to decide what to do with their lives. Eric-san had the permission of his Queen when he decided to try my formula. He has the same right as you do to live with his wife without endangering her life."

"Was Aude the reason you took True Blood, Eric?" asked Sookie.

"At that time, she was. She was sick, and I couldn't continue feeding on her without risking her health. I could have fed from humans, yes that's true. But she said, if there's a way to continue living without hurting anybody, why didn't I try?"

"My apology for being not able to come to her and your burial, Eric-san. She was such a wise woman."

Eric nodded.

"What are we going to do, for the next step?" asked Sam. "Sooner or later the other vampires will find out that Haru is here. Amelia couldn't protect him all the time. And I am not sure if your house can hold them either, Sookie."

Colin stood up. "I'd worry about something else, if I were you. The incident that happened in the wood around Square Stones will reach the ears of other werewolves. They will try to find out if vampires involved in that incident or not. If yes, you know what it means."

"We will face each other one day," said Eric.

"Yes, and James is in between."

Colin's sentence was like a stake to Sookie's chest. Yes, James was between them. Colin was aware of it and so was Eric.

"Then we have to try harder to find out who's behind this," said Eric. "I'll go to see King Peter and ask for his advice. In the meantime, you do your best to protect your brother."

Colin's eyes were yellowish. "As long as the moon still calls us, your son is safe, Sheriff."

Xzxxx

Eric held her tight.

Sookie had never expected that her wedding night would turn out to be like this. It wasn't exactly a wedding night either. To think about it, they didn't have sex since the day they declared each other husband and wife. Not that she wanted to have it now, because honestly, her head was too full with all those expressions that Haru and Eric had given to each other and one new name that gave her a chill only by thinking about it. Felipe de Castro, the King of Nevada. If Eric was afraid of him, she really didn't want to imagine how he looked like or how scrupulous he might be.

Down on the yard, she saw two shadows standing, facing each other with gestures that weren't friendly. Then, helped by the dimmed light of the lamp at the corner, she saw Colin approaching the two shadows. When they turned around and looked at the window, she saw, they were Al and Chad.

"They love their woman," Eric's voice was hoarse. "Each of them wants the other to return to Beaumont and take care of their woman and children."

"Or they love the other too much." Sookie held Eric's hands, which were around her stomach. "One can't live without the other."

"Somehow they are bonded, just like us."

"You will live for a very long time after I die, Eric. I will make sure of it."

"And how?"

"The way you've lived before," she looked up. "You will drink, have women and marry again. You will drive her crazy, and she will drive you nut, but both of you will have a good life and sex."

Eric kissed the tip of her lips. "I am glad that you feel of having good sex and life with me."

Sookie laughed. Eric, he always found a way to twist her words to be sounded as if she had praised him.

Suddenly Eric's grip stiffened. Sookie looked at him in awe. "What is wrong, Eric?"

"Pam…she's in danger." Eric released her. "I have to go to her…and you stay here. No matter what you feel, don't leave the grounds." His blue eyes blazed. "And I mean it, Sookie. Promise me that you listen to me, don't leave the grounds."

Eric's voice was stern. His head tilted like a snake's. Had his fangs been out, he would have looked like a cobra king, ready to strike.

"I promise, Eric."

"I'll call Godric if I have to. Let's hope we don't have to need him." Then, he was gone, flying through the window.

xxxxx

**See you all in the Part II! Hope it won't be long. **


End file.
